Is telecommuting to blame for data theft?

I am a big fan of telecommuting. My company uses it to allow employees to be productive when home sick or when there may be other things happening around the house. With a home broadband connection, and a VPN method to get into work, it is an invaluable way to get online and be productive from home. It is best during the snowy New England winter, when my 45 minute commute to work would otherwise transform into a 3 hour drive in the ice.

That being said, a number of recent data thefts were from employee laptops stored in inappropriate places (i.e. the front seat of a car with the window left open). This has lead to a number of critics calling for an end to telecommuting, at least for people with jobs that require customer data to be on their hard drive. But some advocates are fighting back and making an important point, stupid employees put people at risk in the office or on the road.