The Privacy Podcast: Privacy at School

Social Security Numbers and Transcripts

Aaron Titus — Mon, 05 Feb 2007 01:07:00 -0700

Though most colleges and universities no longer use the Social Security Number as the Student ID, financial, lending, and some hold-out colleges regrettably use the SSN as a convenient, but unnecessary identifying number. Because of the sensitive nature of the SSN, a few states, including New York, have outlawed placing the Social Security Number on official University documents, including transcripts; professionals and government officials uniformly warn of the dangers of disseminating a SSN. Notwithstanding, a student's name, Social Security Number, and birth date appears on a distinct minority of nationally ranked school's transcripts and students are not given the option to hide this sensitive information.

January 2007 Survey of Nationally Ranked University Registrars :: By January 2007, only ¼ of nationally ranked universities placed student SSNs on their transcripts, without allowing students to hide or withhold it.
2003 AACRAO National Registrar Survey :: In 2003, more than ¾ of national colleges & universities reported using the SSN on transcripts, to AACRAO.
AACRAO :: The American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers
The Tiler :: Music today is Zoomin Home, by The Tiler.

File Download (7:16 min / 6.7 MB)

The Education Department Student Surveillance Program

Aaron Titus — Sat, 18 Nov 2006 10:29:31 -0700

If the Education Department Secretary, Margaret Spellings, has her way, next year every college student across America will be forced to participate in the largest student surveillance program in the history of the country. Whether students have Federal loans or not, they will be forced to hand over SSN, DOB, location, courses, majors, GPA, and a host of other very sensitive data to a centralized federal database. The goal: Create more accurate college rankings for parents, students, and congress. This database will also be available to congress and the Department of Homeland Security for fighting terrorism. Regardless of the intent, this program is a cure that is worse than the disease.

National Center for Education Statistics Committee Report :: A 2005 National Center for Education Statistics Committee Report, urging the adoption of a Unit Record system, or complete student surveillance.
AOL Search Records Database :: Demonstration that anonymizing records is not a solution to keeping identifications safe.

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University Identity Security- Part 3 Rebroadcast

Aaron Titus — Fri, 15 Sep 2006 20:34:00 -0700

Part Three of three parts exploring Identity Security at our Nation’s Universities.

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University Identity Security- Part 2 Rebroadcast

Aaron Titus — Fri, 01 Sep 2006 20:30:00 -0700

University of Idaho, and University of Alabama, Birmingham representatives posted sensitive information online about their students in excel files. Join Aaron Titus to review these case studies, and learn helpful tips on how to protect your identity along the way.

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University Identity Security- Part 1 Rebroadcast

Aaron Titus — Tue, 15 Aug 2006 20:07:00 -0700

Universities maintain very private records about students’ finances, health records, location, SSN, and other personal data, often for decades after the students attend. Yet every week, about 60,000 identities are reported compromised from university databases nationwide; mostly at the hands of hackers, thieves, dishonest insiders, or human error. While universities spend millions on information security, this show identifies several common behaviors that put your identity at risk.

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