Social Security numbers a target for identity theft

    131

    By DANIEL JACKSON

    In today?s wired society, Social Security numbers are used for everything ranging from accessing cell phone accounts to running FBI background checks on potential employees. Banks use the numbers, and so do doctors, universities, insurance carriers and credit card companies.

    Because of the almost universal use of the Social Security number in accessing various personal data, a compromised number opens the door to identity theft.

    In a 2003 Utah Foundation study, Utahns ranked identity theft second only to the safety of their children as their biggest crime-and-safety related concern.

    BYU has taken its own measures to reduce the use and increase protection. One such measure was to eliminate the use of Social Security numbers and substituting identification numbers on BYU I.D. cards, eliminating the risk of identity theft from a misplaced Signature Card.

    Of course, the university still has all the Social Security numbers of students and faculty. Bill Holman is Director of Product Management at the Office of Information Technology (OIT), which runs and oversees Route Y where much personal information is stored. He said the personal information we access through Route Y is stored on OIT?s central database server located on a private network.

    ?Thus, it is not generally accessible to the outside world ? on or off campus,? he said.

    Holman acknowledges that OIT has record of some isolated cases of identity theft ?that are consistently handled by our security personnel and University Police.?

    He also noted that over the past few years, OIT has done a great deal of work to secure private and, to some degree, public personal information.

    According to the Family Education Rights and Privacy Act, private only the student and university personnel ?with a legitimate need to know? may access personal information Holman said, which usually means university personnel working in administrative offices.

    Print Friendly, PDF & Email