May 1, 2006
Purdue notifies 25 whose information was accessible online
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Purdue University officials are notifying 25 faculty, staff and graduate students after discovering an online file that contained their names and Social Security numbers was accessible through the Internet.Of those affected, 24 were in the building construction management technology department and one was in the mechanical engineering technology department. The information was in a file that was inadvertently stored on a university business services computing Web site in late 2002. James S. Almond, vice president for business services and assistant treasurer, said the file was removed on Wednesday (April 26) immediately after his staff was made aware of its existence.
"I regret that this information was exposed," Almond said. "The university and business services are committed to protecting the information and privacy of everyone at Purdue."
While not generally visible to the public, the file could have been accessed by entering specific search terms into some Web search engines, said Purdue spokesperson Jeanne V. Norberg.
Notification letters were sent Friday (April 28) to those individuals affected for whom the university has a known mailing address. Almond said mailing addresses were being sought for eight people no longer at Purdue whose information was included in the online file.
"The business services office acted quickly when the file was discovered," Norberg said. "The letters are not only to notify these individuals about the incident, but also to provide important information about steps that should be taken to protect their personal information from being used illegally."
Norberg said Social Security numbers are no longer used at Purdue in faculty, staff and student records unless that information is absolutely necessary or required by law.
"Removing Social Security numbers from all of the university's business practices is an enormous task and an expensive process," Norberg said. "The university has mandated that every possible step be taken to discontinue the use of Social Security numbers wherever possible by the end of this calendar year."
More information about Internet security is available online.
Writer: Brian Zink, (765) 494-2080, bzink@purdue.edu
Source: Jeanne Norberg, (765) 494-2096, jnorberg@purdue.edu
Purdue News Service: (765) 494-2096; purduenews@purdue.edu
To the News Service home page