P.F. Chang’s Bistro has notified the New Hampshire Attorney General’s Office that on December 19, equipment was stolen that contained some current and former employees’ Social Security numbers and other information such as date of birth. The disclosure does not indicate where the equipment was stolen, but does indicate that the equipment was password protected and that 73 NH residents would be notified. Somewhat unusually, the attached copies of the notification to individuals appears in both English and Spanish.

The company also set up a web site at www.notifyinformation.com, but unfortunately, does not fully answer the question it poses in its FAQ as to “What happened?” Instead, it omits most details and says:

We do not have reason to believe that your information was exposed or accessed. Password protected electronic equipment belonging to the Company was stolen. The password was not stolen. Many thefts of this type are aimed at obtaining physical hardware, not information, and usually do not result in any misuse of information. We have not received any reports of misuse of information but wanted to inform our current and former employees out of an abundance of caution.

Updated 3-13-10: Coverage in The Boston Globe indicates that 1,823 current and former employees who are residents of Massachusetts were also notified.

Update 2 4-16-2010: A report to the NYS Consumer Protection Board indicates that 3,080 NYS residents are being notified.

Update 3 of 8-09-10 Their report to Maine indicated 38 Maine residents affected, while their report to Maryland indicated 3,205 residents of that state.