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June 08, 2007, 12:42 PM ET
Colleges Hide Social Security Numbers From Identity Thieves
Social Security numbers have become all too common at colleges and universities as identifiers of personal information. Unfortunately, hacking into systems that store these numbers has become all too common as well. As a result, faculty, staff, and students are at great risk for identity theft.
Enough is enough, according to the University of Pennsylvania. Campus Technology reports this week that the institution wants to initiate a multipart policy to get Social Security numbers out of harm's way. Everyone associated with the university is supposed to inventory their online and offline storage of the numbers. And then they have four options:
1. Purge them from the data.
2. Convert them to the university's own numerical ID system.
3. If the numbers are essential, display only the last four digits.
4. If there is no way to avoid using the complete Social Security numbers, enforce strict security controls on access and use. That means, among other things, that storage on desktops and laptops is prohibited.
Robin H. Beck, the vice president for information systems and computing, noted in a statement that people have until June 21 to comment on this proposal. After that, presumably, the policy will start to be enforced and identities at Pennsylvania will be somewhat more secure. --Josh Fischman
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