Alyssa GregoryAsk any student on this campus her Social Security number and odds are that she will rattle off a string of nine digits without thought, as if it were hard-wired into her head. There is no other number existing in the memory of a student which can be recalled with such speed and accuracy. Phone numbers, birthdays, addresses… all of them take second stage.
WU and almost every other college in the country are to blame for this phenomenon. The reliance on Social Security numbers to identify students has been taken to an extreme that must be corrected. While understandably convenient for the university, this practice has led to increased cases of student identity theft across the nation and presents an unnecessary risk for students at this institution.
At WU we are often asked to provide our Social Security number on tests, to access our student records, and to fill out forms in various departments. When you forget your meal card, you give the lovely ladies in Mallincrodt your Social Security number. When you’re “pointing out hunger,” you give your Social Security number. When departments post large pieces of data (such as test scores or housing lottery numbers), they are sorted by Social Security number.
A man is currently awaiting sentencing in California for stealing Social Security numbers from UC-Riverside exams and using them to apply for credit cards in other students’ names. As the Chronicle of Higher Education reported, over 160 students were affected.
Because of this incident, the California Legislature is currently evaluating a bill which would ban the use of Social Security numbers as student identifiers. Because WU already has a six-digit student ID system in place, it should follow California’s example and shift completely away from using students’ Social Security numbers.
In most cases where identification is required at WU, students have the option of providing either their Social Security number or their student ID number. This policy does not go far enough, however, in protecting students from identity theft. The university should make a policy of neither collecting nor displaying Social Security numbers.
When Social Security numbers are collected on forms, it is too easy for those forms to be lost and fall into the wrong hands. Additionally, when the well-intentioned office staff has finished entering the data into a computer and trashed the form, there is nothing to prevent a thief from stealing it unless it has been shredded. In fact, one of the most common methods of identity theft is searching through other people’s trash.
There are very few offices on campus which must rely on Social Security numbers, with the Financial Services office being the most prominent. However, they work closely with the government in determining student eligibility for aid. The government does the initial collecting of Social Security numbers for aid determination if a student fills out the FAFSA.
The vast majority of offices at WU, however, can get by with just the six digit student ID number. Collecting or displaying Social Security numbers is both unnecessary and risky to students in this age of identity theft.
Fortunately, some departments are already responding to this challenge by reducing their reliance on Social Security numbers. Residential Life, for example, will be posting its list of several thousand housing lottery numbers by student ID, instead of Social Security number.
Some offices may complain about moving away from Social Security numbers because they will have to revamp some of their database software. Hopefully their concern for protecting our identities from theft will more than compensate for the inconvenience of switching to a new system.
Some students may complain because they will have to memorize a new number. However, the reason we all know our Social Security numbers so well is because we have to repeat them so often. If students are required to provide their six digit ID number in place of Social Security numbers, it will only be a matter of time before that number is memorized as well.
An enormous wealth of information can be accessed with Social Security numbers. Any kind of government records, as well as credit reports, are all at the fingertips of a thief armed with this nine digit number. Our six digit ID number is much more limited in scope, applying only to the university community. By adopting the WU ID number as the only form of student identification, the university will take an enormous step toward protecting the identities of its students.