HIts from a Previous Employer

As if I didn't need another reason to dislike my previous employer, this past Friday I received notice that they "lost" a laptop with my personal information on it. This personal information apparently included my name, DOB, SSN, and benefit amounts. The best part - they "lost" the laptop on May 2. I received notice that my personal information was "stolen" on June 2. Thanks for the heads up on that one! As a consolation, they provided me with free credit monitoring through Equifax for one year. Being the worrier that I am, I immediately signed up and received my credit report. Nothing fishy there. My real concern with this is why they were carrying my personal information in laptop to begin with - being as I resigned last September from the company. They yanked my benefits from me last July 31. My tax papers were sent out at the end of January. I find no reason for them to be accessing my personal information. I'm just adding this to the file entitled "Reasons to Never work for Company-X Again." That file is getting pretty fat. However, thanks to my free credit report, I did discover that TransUnion apparently believes my date of birth is 12/1960. Cute, they're only off by a month and 21 years. And apparently, they just won't take your word for it either (even though Equivax and Experian have my DOB correct). To add insult to injury, to talk an actual person at TransUnion, you have to purchase a credit report from them directly. I fought with the telephone computer for 5 minutes. I even tried the sure-fire insurance company method - "REPRESENTATIVE!" Unfortunately, their computer didn't understand that command. The only way to dispute the claim was to submit an "error report" online. TransUnion agrees to reply within 30 days. In the meantime, they urge me not to try to obtain credit. Thanks for that! Glad I bought the car two months ago.