{"id":14262,"date":"2013-02-14T21:40:38","date_gmt":"2013-02-15T02:40:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rbach.net\/blog\/index.php\/"},"modified":"2022-08-26T14:23:20","modified_gmt":"2022-08-26T18:23:20","slug":"school-kids-data-at-risk-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rbach.net\/index.php\/school-kids-data-at-risk-2\/","title":{"rendered":"School Kids&#8217; Data at Risk"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/education-portal.com\/articles\/Recent_Data_Theft_Could_Affect_5_of_Federal_Student_Loan_Borrowers.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft wp-image-108606\" title=\"School Kids' Data at Risk\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/rbach.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/identity_theft-1.jpg?resize=136%2C90&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"School Kids' Data at Risk\" width=\"136\" height=\"90\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/rbach.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/identity_theft-1.jpg?resize=150%2C99&amp;ssl=1 150w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/rbach.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/identity_theft-1.jpg?resize=75%2C50&amp;ssl=1 75w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/rbach.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/identity_theft-1.jpg?w=350&amp;ssl=1 350w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 136px) 100vw, 136px\" \/><\/a><a title=\"Gerry Smith\" href=\"https:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20160421113144\/http:\/\/www.huffingtonpost.com\/gerry-smith\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Gerry Smith<\/a> writes about the growing amount of school kids&#8217; data being stolen across the country. In the <em><a title=\"The Huffington Post\" href=\"https:\/\/www.huffingtonpost.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"homepage noopener noreferrer\">Huffington Post<\/a><\/em> article, &#8220;<a title=\"In Push For Data, Schools Expose Students To Identity Theft\" href=\"https:\/\/www.huffingtonpost.com\/2011\/12\/15\/students-identity-theft_n_1140119.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">In Push For Data, Schools Expose Students To Identity Theft<\/span><\/a>&#8221; the author explains why. \u00a0Data thieves want this information to commit identity theft. The author cites several recent cases:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Hackers broke into the computer network of an <a title=\"El Pas Texas\" href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/maps?ll=31.811145,-106.424517&amp;spn=0.555496,0.977783&amp;t=h&amp;dg=opt&amp;z=10\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">El Paso, TX<\/a> school district, They stole a database of about 63,000 students&#8217; <a title=\"Social Security number\" href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Social_Security_number\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener wikipedia noreferrer\">Social Security numbers<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li>School officials <a href=\"https:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20130821081125\/http:\/\/www.newsobserver.com:80\/2009\/12\/05\/226344\/kids-social-security-numbers-on.html\" target=\"_hplink\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">mailed out<\/a> 5,000 postcards with students&#8217; Social Security numbers printed on the front in\u00a0<a title=\"Wake County, North Carolina\" href=\"http:\/\/maps.google.com\/maps?ll=35.79,-78.65&amp;spn=1.0,1.0&amp;q=35.79,-78.65%20%28Wake%20County%2C%20North%20Carolina%29&amp;t=h\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"geolocation noopener noreferrer\">Wake County, NC<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li>Social Security numbers of 8,000 <a title=\"Palatine, Illinois\" href=\"http:\/\/maps.google.com\/maps?ll=42.1169444444,-88.0405555556&amp;spn=0.1,0.1&amp;q=42.1169444444,-88.0405555556%20%28Palatine%2C%20Illinois%29&amp;t=h\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"geolocation noopener noreferrer\">Palatine, IL<\/a> special education students were lost when\u00a0laptops belonging to a state contractor <a href=\"https:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20160614164930\/http:\/\/www.triblocal.com\/palatine\/2011\/06\/17\/laptops-stolen-from-palatine-held-info-on-students-teachers\/\" target=\"_hplink\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">were stolen.<\/a><\/li>\n<li>A former <a title=\"Broward County, Florida\" href=\"http:\/\/maps.google.com\/maps?ll=26.124354,-80.249503&amp;spn=1.0,1.0&amp;q=26.124354,-80.249503%20%28Broward%20County%2C%20Florida%29&amp;t=h\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"geolocation noopener noreferrer\">Broward County, FL<\/a> high school teacher was <a href=\"https:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20170409072932\/http:\/\/articles.sun-sentinel.com:80\/2010-07-23\/news\/fl-sheyla-diaz-id-theft-20100723_1_house-arrest-identity-theft-credit-card\" target=\"_hplink\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">sentenced to six months of house arrest<\/a> for stealing the identities of students.<\/li>\n<li>A police officer for the <a title=\"School District of Palm Beach County\" href=\"http:\/\/www.palmbeachschools.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"homepage noopener noreferrer\">Palm Beach County School District<\/a>\u00a0was sentenced to eight years in prison for stealing the identities of former students and teachers.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright wp-image-108608 size-full\" title=\"Child identity theft\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/rbach.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/identity_theft_child.jpg?resize=100%2C100&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Child identity theft\" width=\"100\" height=\"100\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/rbach.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/identity_theft_child.jpg?w=100&amp;ssl=1 100w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/rbach.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/identity_theft_child.jpg?resize=75%2C75&amp;ssl=1 75w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 100px) 100vw, 100px\" \/>The article says these incidents highlight the growing risk of school kids&#8217; vulnerability to identity theft. Across the country, schools have become conduits for children&#8217;s pristine Social Security numbers. The students&#8217; numbers are increasingly falling into the hands of credit-hungry identity thieves. The frequent data breaches have prompted calls for schools to stop collecting sensitive student data. The breaches have angered parents like Art Staehling, whose 14-year-old daughter was among <a href=\"https:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20110312125023\/http:\/\/www.knoxnews.com:80\/news\/2009\/apr\/09\/18000-nashville-students-personal-data-put-online\/\" target=\"_hplink\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">18,000 Nashville students<\/a> who had their Social Security numbers accidentally exposed online for three months in 2009.<\/p>\n<h3>They left the gate wide open for data theft<\/h3>\n<p>&#8220;They left the gate wide open,&#8221; Mr. Staehling told <em>The Huffington Post<\/em>. <em>&#8220;It&#8217;s clumsiness. There&#8217;s no excuse for it. If schools want that information, there should be some sort of penalty paid if they don&#8217;t guard it with their lives. I haven&#8217;t found a reason why they honestly need it.<\/em>&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20171020072610\/http:\/\/www.kiplinger.com:80\/quiz\/retirement\/T051-S001-how-well-do-you-know-social-security\/index.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright wp-image-108610\" title=\"Schools collect students' Social Security numbers\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/rbach.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/SSA_crds.jpg?resize=111%2C83&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Schools collect students' Social Security numbers\" width=\"111\" height=\"83\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/rbach.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/SSA_crds.jpg?resize=150%2C113&amp;ssl=1 150w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/rbach.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/SSA_crds.jpg?resize=75%2C56&amp;ssl=1 75w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/rbach.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/SSA_crds.jpg?w=400&amp;ssl=1 400w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 111px) 100vw, 111px\" \/><\/a>Schools collect students&#8217; Social Security numbers as part of a campaign to more precisely track their progress. But privacy experts told <em>Huff Post<\/em> there are less risky ways to identify students. The privacy experts accuse schools of needlessly exposing children to identity theft by gathering their Social Security numbers. Mn then not securing them.<\/p>\n<p>The push for collecting student data began under the federal <a title=\"No Child Left Behind Act\" href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/No_Child_Left_Behind_Act\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener wikipedia noreferrer\">No Child Left Behind Act<\/a>. Financial incentives in the 2009 stimulus package, including <a title=\"Race to the Top\" href=\"http:\/\/www.whitehouse.gov\/issues\/education\/k-12\/race-to-the-top\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Race to the Top<\/a>&#8216;s $250 million in competitive grants drove schools to collect student social security numbers, according to Reidenberg.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20130616160807\/http:\/\/www.generalcode.com\/content-management\/laserfiche\/installation-profiles\/new-york\/rockland-county\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright wp-image-108612\" title=\"No Child Left Behind Act drove schools to collect student social security numbers\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/rbach.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/SchoolRecords.jpg?resize=73%2C100&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"No Child Left Behind Act drove schools to collect student social security numbers\" width=\"73\" height=\"100\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/rbach.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/SchoolRecords.jpg?resize=110%2C150&amp;ssl=1 110w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/rbach.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/SchoolRecords.jpg?resize=55%2C75&amp;ssl=1 55w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/rbach.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/SchoolRecords.jpg?w=190&amp;ssl=1 190w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 73px) 100vw, 73px\" \/><\/a>The <a title=\"U.S. Department of Education\" href=\"http:\/\/www.ed.gov\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">U.S. Department of Education<\/a> has warned schools not to use students&#8217; Social Security numbers in their databases. The <em>Huff Post\u00a0<\/em>says the Feds urge schools to create other unique identifiers. The <a title=\"National Center for Education Statistics\" href=\"http:\/\/nces.ed.gov\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"homepage noopener noreferrer\">National Center for Education Statistics<\/a> <a href=\"http:\/\/nces.ed.gov\/pubs2011\/2011602.pdf\" target=\"_hplink\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">warned<\/a> schools last fall that. They told educators that Social Security numbers are &#8220;the single most misused piece of information by criminals perpetrating identity thefts.&#8221;<\/p>\n<h3>School abuses student&#8217;s Social Security numbers<\/h3>\n<p>Despite the warnings, the collection and use of student&#8217;s Social Security numbers in K-12 schools remain &#8220;widespread.&#8221; <a href=\"https:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20210804024237\/https:\/\/oig.ssa.gov\/sites\/default\/files\/audit\/full\/pdf\/A-08-10-11057.pdf\" target=\"_hplink\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">An audit last year<\/a> by Patrick O&#8217;Carroll, the <a title=\"Social Security Administration\" href=\"http:\/\/www.ssa.gov\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"homepage noopener noreferrer\">Social Security Administration<\/a>&#8216;s inspector general. The IG found students&#8217; Social Security numbers printed on transcripts, tests, and athletic education forms. According to the article, the audit concluded that schools were using the numbers &#8220;as a matter of convenience.&#8221; Mr. O&#8217;Carroll found there have been at least 40 data breaches of confidential student information at K-12 schools since 2005.<\/p>\n<p>In his report, O&#8217;Carroll wrote.&#8221;<em>We believe the unnecessary collection and use of Social Security numbers is a significant vulnerability for this young population. Each time a student provides his or her Social Security number, the potential for a dishonest individual to unlawfully gain access to, and misuse, the number increases.<\/em>&#8221;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>Read Part 2 <\/strong><a title=\"School Kids' Data at Risk - Part 2\" href=\"http:\/\/wp.me\/p2wgaW-7XE\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong>here.<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><strong><em>rb-<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><em><a title=\"Consumers Unions\" href=\"https:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20181113222803\/https:\/\/consumersunion.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Consumers Unions<\/a> <a title=\"Social Security Number Protection Legislation for States\" href=\"http:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20121002053804\/http:\/\/www.consumersunion.org:80\/pub\/core_financial_services\/004801.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">points out<\/a> that Michigan law restricts how Social Security numbers can be used. In Michigan, SSNs cannot be printed on ID cards, intentionally communicated to the public, and\/or publicly displayed or mailed within an envelope.<\/em><\/p>\n<h6>Related articles<\/h6>\n<ul>\n<li>Young children can be identity-theft targets (goerie.com)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><em><a title=\"Ralph Bach\" href=\"https:\/\/rbach.net\/index.php\/new-resume\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Ralph Bach<\/a>\u00a0has been in IT long enough to know better and has blogged from his\u00a0<a title=\"Bach Seat\" href=\"https:\/\/rbach.net\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Bach Seat<\/a> about IT, careers, and anything else that catches his attention since 2005. You can follow him on <a class=\"broken_link\" href=\"http:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/rb48334\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">LinkedIn<\/a>,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ralph.bach.14\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Facebook<\/a>,\u00a0and\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/rbach48334\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Twitter<\/a>. Email the Bach Seat\u00a0<a href=\"mailto:\/\/bach.seat@gmail.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">here<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The collection &#038; use of students&#8217; Social Security numbers in K-12 school is rampant exposing them to identity theft due to poor PII security<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[3044,1795,1185,849,67,608,128,19,1187,951,1186,4],"class_list":["post-14262","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-security","tag-3044","tag-breach","tag-cybersecurity","tag-data","tag-hack","tag-identity-theft","tag-k12","tag-michigan","tag-no-child-left-behind-act","tag-pii","tag-school-data-breach","tag-security"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/rbach.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14262","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/rbach.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/rbach.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rbach.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rbach.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14262"}],"version-history":[{"count":20,"href":"https:\/\/rbach.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14262\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":130034,"href":"https:\/\/rbach.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14262\/revisions\/130034"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rbach.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14262"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rbach.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14262"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rbach.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14262"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}