2008 Woodie Awards
Personal information in education records to receive extra protection
Clarisa Barnes
Issue date: 4/6/06 Section: News
New security measures that will change the way students access their personal information are being implemented by the records office and the information technology department next fall.
Information found under the student information link on Onenet requires a certain level of protection, according to the Family Education Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA). According to the Web site for the U.S. Department of Education, FERPA is a federal law that protects the privacy of student education records.
Beginning fall 2006, these records will be protected by a secure identification number (SID) that is to be distributed to students via postal mail.
Linda Orth, registrar of records and registration, said her office has been working with the information technology department to devise and execute a plan that will increase security for students' information.
"It's increasingly important in our society to protect the privacy of our students' information, as well as the Social Security number," Orth said. "We started in the talking stages of [devising new security measures] somewhere around six months ago, maybe nine months ago, and then we moved things forward a little faster when we received notice from the Social Security administration that we should be taking extra precaution to protect the Social Security number and not use it in any way for identification purposes."
Orth wrote in an e-mail that each student approved for admission will receive a permanent SID.
She added that the SID will replace the Social Security number for identification and authentication and will restrict access to confidential student information and the registration process.
The UTC ID will still be used for Onenet access, class rosters and grade reports.
Orth said only the student and select administrative office such as records and registration, undergraduate admissions, UTC's graduate school, international student office and adult services will have access to the SID.
Information found under the student information link on Onenet requires a certain level of protection, according to the Family Education Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA). According to the Web site for the U.S. Department of Education, FERPA is a federal law that protects the privacy of student education records.
Beginning fall 2006, these records will be protected by a secure identification number (SID) that is to be distributed to students via postal mail.
Linda Orth, registrar of records and registration, said her office has been working with the information technology department to devise and execute a plan that will increase security for students' information.
"It's increasingly important in our society to protect the privacy of our students' information, as well as the Social Security number," Orth said. "We started in the talking stages of [devising new security measures] somewhere around six months ago, maybe nine months ago, and then we moved things forward a little faster when we received notice from the Social Security administration that we should be taking extra precaution to protect the Social Security number and not use it in any way for identification purposes."
Orth wrote in an e-mail that each student approved for admission will receive a permanent SID.
She added that the SID will replace the Social Security number for identification and authentication and will restrict access to confidential student information and the registration process.
The UTC ID will still be used for Onenet access, class rosters and grade reports.
Orth said only the student and select administrative office such as records and registration, undergraduate admissions, UTC's graduate school, international student office and adult services will have access to the SID.
