Let's File It Under "Oops"; FBI Misplaces Laptops

Several days ago it was reported that the FBI had lost 160 laptops in the last four years, some 51 of them containing sensitive information. Before that, the FBI had misplaced over 300 laptops in a space of just over a few years. Every newspaper article in print and online that I've come across this story in (and that's not too many), not a single one mentions any kind of punishments for those responsible for the losses or thefts. Better yet, the situations where the agents have lost these laptops as well as weapons are in a few cases ridiculous; unlocked cars, leaving them behind at restaurants, grocery stores, restrooms, etc... With reports of identity thefts in the news frequently due to mishandling of laptops, data, or just plain human stupidity, I haven't heard of any punishments for those responsible. It's always either an announcement of the fact that they've been lost, with little or no information or apology, or in some cases just a simple "oops, we were stupid. Sorry, we'll try not to do it again" statement.

In England, on the other hand, The Nationwide Building Society was fined £980,000 (€1,464,000/$1,922,000) for the theft of ONE laptop from an employee's house, a laptop which contained banking information from some 11 million of the corporation's clients. Now how many people have the FBI and other institutions, universities and corporations compromised due to their "mishaps"? The BBC article mentions that it is not known whether Nationwide fined, fired or disciplined the employee in question or not, but one would think the company might wanna do that, considering the cost of the ordeal to the company, in terms of money and image. Guess the FBI didn't feel the need to, seeing as people's view of the bureau is already tarnished, and it's just another instance of a big OOPS!

[Note: The BBC website has some pretty good information to turn to in case of Identity Theft. CNN, not so much...]

Sources:
FBI loses laptops with classified information - CNN.com ( http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/02/12/fbi.laptops/index.html )
FBI still losing laptops, weapons - Homeland Stupidity ( http://www.homelandstupidity.us/2007/02/13/fbi-still-losing-laptops-weapons/ )
BBC NEWS Business Nationwide fined for stolen laptop ( http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/6360715.stm )