Stolen laptop had Gap job applicants' data

The Gap company says a thief stole a laptop computer that contained the personal information of about 800,000 job applicants.

The clothing retailer says the information was unencrypted and included Social Security numbers and other data from people who applied online and by phone between July 2006 and last June 2007.

It says the applications were for jobs at Gap, Old Navy, Banana Republic and Outlet stores in the U.S., Puerto Rico and Canada.

Gap says the laptop was lifted from the offices of a third-party vendor that manages job applicant data.

Multiple companies manage the Gap's data, so not every job applicant would have had their confidential information compromised.