After years of periodic security breaches and community concern, the University will replace Social Security numbers with randomly generated ID numbers for identifying students, faculty and staff.
Beginning next month, members of the University community will be able to pick up their new ID cards and receivenew, randomized nine-digit ID numbers, which will be printed on the back of the card, according to Facilities and Systems Engineer Gary Conley.
The implementation of these new ID numbers and cards is "really a first step in a University-wide [plan] to work on eliminating Social Security numbers from everyday use," he added.
The new ID cards and numbers will be used for everything the old cards were used for, such as access to housing and recreational facilities, meal plans, Cavalier Advantage and University Bookstore charges, according to Valerie Larsen, program manager for the Social Security Number Initiative.
In addition, the libraries will be affected by this change, according to Charlotte Morford, director of communication for University libraries. Beginning Aug. 15, students and faculty members will be required to use the new ID cards or numbers to check out an item or request an item through the interlibrary loan system.
According to James Hilton, vice president and chief officer of the Information Technology and Communication Office, the new ID numbers will be more secure because they will no longer be tied to an individual's financial information.
If someone obtains the new ID number, "they could check out books in your name but they couldn't open a new credit card," he said.
Conley stressed that this change will not affect certain official academic processes, such as using ISIS or declaring a major. Students will still use their Social Security numbers for these activities.
In many cases, like that of financial aid, the University is not legally able to replace the use of Social Security numbers, Larsen said. Yet she added that the use of the numbers will be eliminated where it is "legal and possible."
Members of the Social Security Number Initiative are currently in the process of identifying where the use of Social Security numbers can be phased out, Larsen said. They are also looking to "address the way[s] to really protect sensitive and confidential data on campus," she said, adding that the project is still in the beginning phases.
Though a timeline has not been established to completely phase out the use of Social Security numbers, Larsen said she expected the project to be completed within the next two to three years.
Conley said the new nine-digit ID numbers will be generated by ITC. Students, faculty members and staff will all receive new ID numbers which will remain theirs even after they graduate or leave.
The new ID cards and numbers will be available for pickup in the Student Activities Building Aug. 1 thru Aug. 29 and in the ID Card Office in Observatory Hill Dining Hall thereafter, Conley said. Old ID cards will be active until Oct. 1.
In addition to the cards, a pass-phrase will be issued along with instructions to update central electronic identity information, according to Hilton.
"You will get a pass-phrase and you will be asked to log in to a Web site and establish your identity at the beginning with high confidence," Hilton said. "It is an extra security measure ... [which] allows us to know in the digital world the real identities of these people."
The initiative will be funded by a variety of sources within the University and an allocation of internal resources -- changing the priority of what people are working on, Hilton said.
"Because [this process] is so complex, it just can't be done overnight -- it has to be done carefully," Larsen said. "We just really want to make sure the students are taken care of."
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