Details on thousands of Surrey children is the hands of a criminal after laptop theft
Surrey County Council (SCC) notified the 7,851 children, parents and carers, whose details were stolen, that there had been a "potential security breach" in a letter over the weekend.
Personal, unencrypted data was stored on the laptop swiped from a car belonging to one of the county council's contractors, Trapeze Group UK Ltd, on November 12.
The exact location of the theft has been kept secret to try and stop the information spreading. However, the Mirror can reveal it happened outside the county.
After SCC was notified about the theft the next day (November 13), it immediately started contacting parents by telephone. Officials then wrote to parents and carers who were not available over the phone.
A Lingfield resident said: "I was absolutely outraged at receiving a letter from SCC detailing yet another instance where confidential information has been lost.
"Mine and my child's details are in the hands of God knows who.
"It is yet another incidence of incompetence. There is no need for confidential information to be stored on laptops or memory sticks.
"In my last three jobs I have had secure remote access to a secure server. This technology is not new and its not exclusive so why does this keep happening?
"My child has to come home by himself from school, so what is there to stop someone from saying 'I know your mother, I've called her and it's OK if you come home with me'.
"It's really terrifying."
The mass amount of information was collected as part of the Home to School Provision Scheme, which entitles pupils who live a certain distance away from school to free public transport.
A Trapeze spokesman confirmed the company has suspended a member of staff as part of an internal investigation.
He said: "We deeply regret the loss of personal, un-encrypted data entrusted to us by SCC.
"At this time we believe that our procedures were not followed and have suspended the member of staff concerned until our inquiry is concluded."
An SCC spokesman added: "The data was provided by SCC to a software contractor, Trapeze, who had stored it on a laptop.
"All the information, which included the names, addresses and contact details of children using the service and their parents or carers, was provided to the company using appropriate technical and security measures.
"We have started contacting all the parents about the matter and are in discussion with Trapeze about this potential breach of security."
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