NU to launch new identification system next month; replaces use of social security numbers on campus

By Kara Swarbrick
Norwich Guidon Staff Writer

During the months of May and June, Norwich will be giving a test-run for the new identification system being applied to all accounts in order to replace the old method of using social security numbers (SSN).

"We're planning on moving away from using the social security number as the primary Norwich [identification]," said Louisa Tripp, director of administrative computing. "It'll still be stored, because when we report to the federal government and things, it's required, but it's a security risk to have everybody know and have reports floating around with I.D.s on them, so we're planning on moving right now to a new one that will begin with an "A" and then it will have eight [randomly generated] digits, so it will still be nine in length."

This security risk is what triggered the change, as well as new state laws.

According to Tripp, anyone who has access to any of those paper records with SSNs on it, even ones that are tossed in the garbage, that might not be shredded as they should be, would have the number and could access private accounts and other things of that sort.

"As a result of heightened awareness of security concerns related to using SSN as an institutional ID, such as identity theft and as reflected in new state laws and HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996), Norwich University has made the commitment to move away from using SSN as the institutional ID," says the Norwich website.

According to Tripp, new law ideas seem to be frequently popping up, and Norwich is doing this now since they will eventually have to go through it, anyway.

"Every year, it seems like somebody puts forth a federal law that says nobody can use this, and it hasn't happened, yet, but there's no sense waiting until the last minute and being forced to do it in December, which would be awful," said Tripp. "We're just trying to be proactive, here."

The security concerns were the main reason for the change. The school gets a lot of phone calls from alumni asking the school not to use their social security numbers on mailings and other things.

A student's SSN goes out on their bills, report cards, phone bills, transcripts and other paperwork, and while some have it for valid reasons, others have the number for no reason at all.

"The transcripts are still an issue, because other schools need to verify that this is actually a student, but all the unofficial transcripts don't require that it be your social security number," said Tripp.

However, the new identification system will help to remedy the problem of useless distribution of SSN to organizations that do not need it.

"There's really no reason for Telecom to know your social security number; they don't report to the federal government; there's nothing like that, so the plan is to move them also to this new I.D. and to no longer distribute," said Tripp. "That is exactly a perfect example of where your social security number is just sent to people that we have no control over what they do with the data; we have a contract, but it's a different kind of control."

The changeover will have to wait until the test-run that computer services will be running later during the summer.

"What we're planning on doing through the summer is shifting [the whole phone system] to the new ID. Once we nail down for sure that we're going with an 'A'or another letter, then we'll be working with the Telecom to change all of the social security numbers to the new I.D.," said Tripp.

There will be testing during the month of May, and then they will be going wide with the change in June, followed by a potential distribution of new I.D. cards if all goes well, according to Tripp.

"There's a chance that what will happen is, when students come back in August, that's when they'll get the new I.D.s.," said Tripp. "We haven't quite worked out all the details with Sodexho; there's a chance they may not get a whole new ID, so what we'll do is send out a little paper card with the new ID on it, and then go forward. As Sodexho produces new cards, they'll publish the new number on there."

Tripp said that the whole process should be "pretty painless", since they have the entire summer to work through any problems.

While the school may be preempting an inevitable move to this new method, the idea is far from a novelty on this campus.

"We here in IT have been pushing it easily for five years," said Tripp. "We've recognized that [the social security number] and birth day are two of the most sensitive pieces of data when you're a thief trying to steal someone's I.D."

"Representatives from administrative areas have discussed this process for several years," says the website. "One obstacle to moving to a different I.D. has been the querying of the administrative database." This easy querying relied on a new banner that the school just recently added.

"The installation of Banner 5 has an improved process for querying on both the new Norwich ID and on the SSN simultaneously," says the website. "With the installation of Banner 5, the University will be able to move away from SSN as the ID more easily than in the past."

"One of the reasons we're going now is because the new banner that we installed last weekend has a more easily [inquired upon] format, so people who access the database can query on both the social security number and new I.D. So we're hoping that when people call and they know one number, they'll be able to get at their data," said Tripp.

The only financial burden would lie in the creation of the new cards that would have the new numbers on them and the labels that some offices are opting to put on files. The estimation for the generation of the new cards, which would be the main cost, is $1,500. When compared to the cost associated with identity theft or a misuse of somebody's personal information, $1,500 is not that much money to spend to prevent this crime.

"Of course there are issues we probably haven't even thought about; we never know until they happen, but we're trying to anticipate them all," said Tripp. "We're really open to any thoughts or concerns, if people think of a process that maybe we haven't thought about, we'd love to have them send us an email."

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