SUUVA / CWA » Articles » UVA ISSUING NEW ID CARDS TO PREVENT IDENTITY THEFT-THE DAILY PROGRESS, JULY 27, 2007

Home \| About \| Articles \| Resources \| Photos \| Contact	Getting Started with SUUVA
WELCOME FACULTY! BECOME A UNION MEMBER! SUUVA/CWA IS NOW INVITING FACULTY TO SHOW SUPPORT FOR CLASSIFIED STAFF BY SIGNING A MEMBERSHIP CARD OR JOINING ONLINE. THERE IS STRENGTH IN NUMBERS. HELP GIVE STAFF A VOICE!

UVA ISSUING NEW ID CARDS TO PREVENT IDENTITY THEFT-THE DAILY PROGRESS, JULY 27, 2007

Posted: Friday July 27, 2007

UVa Issuing New ID Cards to Prevent Identity Theft

By Brian McNeill / bmcneill@dailyprogress.com | 978-7266
July 27, 2007

The University of Virginia will begin issuing thousands of new identification cards Wednesday, marking a major step forward in UVa’s campaign to phase out its use of Social Security numbers to identify students, faculty and staff.
Instead of Social Security numbers, the new ID cards will feature randomly assigned nine-digit ID numbers. The move is intended to better protect the university’s 20,400 students and 12,000 employees from identity theft.

“This was an area where we were behind and needed to catch up,” said James L. Hilton, UVa vice president and chief information officer. “It’s time for us to do this. It’s actually past time.”

UVa’s ID cards are used to access campus buildings, check out library books, pay for meals, purchase items from UVa’s bookstore, enter athletics events and more.

The university is gradually incorporating the new ID numbers into its systems, though not everything works with the new numbers yet. Currently, the new university ID number will not allow students to check grades or change their course schedules.

“We estimate that it’ll take a couple years to eradicate all vestiges of the old numbers,” Hilton said.

Just 10 years ago, most universities publicly posted students’ Social Security numbers to show grades without identifying students by name. Now, with the rise of identity theft, any prominent use of Social Security numbers is considered risky, Hilton said.

UVa will use Social Security numbers as identifiers where required by law, such as on student financial aid forms and employee tax records.

“We’ll be replacing the use of SSNs as much as we possibly can,” said Shirley Payne, director for information technology security and policy. “We’ll still have to use SSNs as the primary identifier for some purposes, but what we really want to do is get away from SSNs everywhere they don’t need to be used.”

In recent years, the university has suffered security breaches in which hackers gained access to student or faculty Social Security numbers. Most recently, hackers broke into a UVa computer application on 54 occasions last spring, obtaining the names, Social Security numbers and birth dates for 5,735 current and former faculty members.

Payne said the campaign to minimize UVa’s use of Social Security numbers should minimize the impact of future attacks.

Funding for the initiative will come from a variety of existing sources, though Hilton said the total cost is not yet known.

Throughout August, students will be able to pick up their new ID cards from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the Student Activities Building. Faculty and staff members will be able to get their ID cards on Sept. 4 and 5 in Newcomb Hall.

Any member of the university community who has a university-issued ID card must obtain a new card. UVa Health System badges are not included in the program, though new badges will be issued for them in the future.