COLUMBIA (WACH) -- The personal information of thousands of people connected to two higher ed schools in the Midlands may have fallen into the wrong hands.
In two unrelated instances, Midlands Tech and the University of South Carolina say information like social security numbers, birthdates and other personal data was breached.
According to Spokeswoman Margaret Lamb, USC officials sent out letters last week to thousands of students, faculty, staff and retirees alerting them that private information was breached from a university server.
That breach, a result of human error, was discovered in January at the school's Sumter campus, however the information may affect people from the eight different campuses around the state.
Someone claiming to be a concerned employee contacted WACH Fox about a similar situation at Midlands Tech where a contractor walked off with a flash drive containing personal information. Spokesman Todd Gavin says as soon as the drive was noticed missing the contractor returned it to the school.
Gavin says SLED is investigating the case, but if any employee is concerned the school will offer free credit monitoring.
Officials at both schools say they don't believe the information was used improperly.
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