If you had Googled the name Darlene Geist in the last six months, you might have been able to find her Social Security number online.

Geist is among 4,000 San Juan Unified employees and former employees who are receiving letters from the district this week informing them that their confidential information was compromised.

An employee in the school district's human resources department copied the sensitive data onto a flash drive to do work at home, said Trent Allen, San Juan Unified spokesman. She then inadvertently uploaded it onto her church website while doing volunteer work, he said.

"You think your stuff should be very secure," said Geist, who retired 18 months ago. "Obviously, your information is on a free-for-all when someone can put it in a flash drive and take it to a church."

Allen said San Juan Unified officials learned of the incident about 10 days ago when someone discovered the information online after Googling his own name. The district worked with the church, Google and other search engines to remove the information from the Web that same day, he said.

The incident resulted in a change in district policy. "No flash drives will be allowed," Allen said. "There is no reason to be copying information out of the network."

Previous district policy was less specific, saying only that confidential information was not to be put at risk.

"We have taken the appropriate personnel action related to this," Allen said, adding he could not reveal the name of the employee or the action taken.

Allen said a new system allows employees with proper access to open this type of information on personal computers at home while staying on the district network.

District staff on Tuesday began notifying people whose information had been compromised. Letters were being sent out as late as Thursday. Allen said district officials waited to send the letters until they determined how the incident happened.

Geist said the letter wasn't very helpful.

The letter acknowledges the security breach, but doesn't tell employees that their information had been posted online for six months or that the breach involved 4,000 employees and was accessible by Google. Instead, the letter says the breach involved a "limited number of employees" and that "the data was stored in such a way that it was not readily accessible or retrievable."

When asked why the district omitted this information, Allen said, "The letter is to make sure folks are alerted the possibility is out there. No matter how great or small the threat, it is essential they know the possibility exists and they can take measures if they deem it necessary."

He said district officials have fielded many calls from people wanting additional information about the security breach, but no one has reported that their information had been stolen.

People whose private information was compromised should contact the three consumer reporting companies – Equifax, Experian and TransUnion – and ask them to post a fraud alert, said Joanne McNabb, chief of the California Office of Privacy Protection. The alert will cause creditors to ask for additional identification before offering lines of credit.

McNabb said people also can put a security freeze on credit files. This comes at a fee and allows consumers to lock or unlock the frozen file online as needed with a PIN code. She said that incidents like this highlight why policies and training about handling confidential information are important.

"It is an area that all organizations need to stay up to speed on," McNabb said. "Real harm can come to people."

McNabb contacted San Juan Unified officials after speaking to The Bee and has offered to provide workshops to district staff on the topic, Allen said.

In the meantime, Geist and others on the list are contacting credit rating agencies and their banks.

"I've worked so long to get my credit up really high and now that could be ruined because of someone's error," Geist said.

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Call The Bee's Diana Lambert, (916) 321-1090. Follow her on Twitter @dianalambert.

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