BP employee lost laptop with data on oil spill

A BP employee lost a laptop containing personal data belonging to thousands of Louisiana residents who filed compensation claims after the Gulf of Mexico oil spill.

BP spokesman Curtis Thomas said the oil giant sent letters to about 13,000 people whose data was stored on the computer on Monday, notifying them about the potential data security breach and offering to pay for their credit to be monitored. The company also reported the missing laptop to law enforcement agencies, he said.

The laptop was password-protected, but the information, including a spreadsheet of claimants’ names, social security numbers, phone numbers and addresses, was not encrypted. Mr Thomas said the company did not have any evidence that claimants’ personal data had been misused.

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“We’re committed to the people of the Gulf Coast states affected by the Deepwater Horizon accident and spill, and we deeply regret that this occurred,” he said.

The data belonged to individuals who filed claims with BP before the Gulf Coast Claims Facility took over the processing of claims in August.

BP paid about £250m in claims before the switch.