Numbers are personal matter
Campus Times
October 18, 1996
Cartoon by Stephanie Lesniak
In the cinema thriller "The Net," Sandra Bullock has her life
erased by computer-wielding geniuses who want her dead. Almost a year ago,
several ULV students had their lives ripped into turmoil when former student
Wesley Tong stole Social Security numbers and applied for credit cards under
their names. Although the incidents of grand theft and making false financial
statements that sent Tong to jail for 10 days are not as dramatic as the
terrorism that threatened Bullock, the means by which they spread their
madness are similar.
One's Social Security number is the key to the life of their finances and
livelihood in American society. With someone's Social Security number, anyone
can apply for a credit card with that person's name and an alternative address,
thus ensuring they never see a bill until it is too late. Nine simple digits
control one's payroll, credit information, banking information, school information
and countless other secret aspects of a person's life.
The University of La Verne uses those nine digits to keep record of the
classes students take, how much money they owe and uses them to provide
the dining hall with a record of their actions. On one's student ID card,
his or her Social Security number is printed for the entire world to write
down or use if that card happens to become lost.
The overuse of Social Security numbers by the University is creating a threat
to students who must work to ensure that they are not the next victims of
a credit card scam like those seen in the past. To avoid future problems
and to ensure the security of the students, the Registrar's Office should
begin to use random alpha-numeric numbers for student identifications and
only use Social Security numbers in times they cannot be erased.
In the rights and responsibilities section of the 1995-96 ULV catalog, it
is stated, "ULV is committed to maintaining confidentiality. Whenever
questionnaires are circulated, Social Security numbers are requested, but
only for purposes of connecting data to demographic and other information."
This is the only mention of Social Security numbers in that section.
However, this was not the case for the Housing Office, which gave the names,
home addresses and Social Security numbers of not just ULV residents, but
even some ULV commuter students, to Campus Link, the residence hall phone
service provider. Now, in the worst case scenario, any employee at Campus
Link could apply for a credit card in a student's name with a mailing address
for anywhere in the United States. They could charge on this credit card
until the student has a credit check done and discovers she has $10,000
overdue on a Visa card she never knew she had. As with anything, the more
a number is used and passed around, the greater the possibility of improper
use of that information.
Social Security numbers are the gateway into people's financial lives and
should be guarded with the same fervor with which one guards his or her
wallet. Starting next year, ULV should begin to use random alpha-numeric
numbers, that could even be nine digits so they would not confuse the computers,
for all student identification.
It was proven almost a year ago that Social Security numbers are not safe
on the La Verne campus, and last week it was proven that individual departments
cannot be trusted with the numbers that control people's lives.
Until a change is made, we all should consider ourselves lucky that "The
Net" is only fiction and that Wesley Tong served his 10 days behind
bars.