Years after I finished coursework in a graduate program, I received an email from the university saying that a professor from whom I had taken three courses had lost (or had stolen) his laptop. The laptop contained years of course grades and other sensitive information, including social security and id numbers of students.
I was told that the files had been in a password-protected part of the computer, but that all students were being notified to take precautions.
It seems to me that it is a bad idea to keep sensitive student information on laptops or other computing devices that are transported to and from home.
In any case, if it is necessary to keep such info on a laptop (so that one can work at home on grading) then at the very least, all data from previous semesters should be removed on a regular basis.
It might be better to encrypt the files and transport them between the university and home on a device (flash drive, e.g.) that is kept separate from the laptop and which is less liable to be stolen.
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