When I was a student at OSU, I bristled at the fact that the university insisted upon using students' Social Security Numbers for identification (in violation of the SSN's original intended limited usage). Professors routinely posted grades by SSN and the number was frequently referenced on student records and it formed the basis of the university's userid for online services. As the Electronic Privacy Information Center highlights under its subhead "The SSN and Student Privacy" (scroll to find), students are especially vulnerable to identity theft while at university. Which is why I am so happy to see OSU quietly announce that:
Your OSU ID number is assigned to you by Oregon State University. Using this number for identification, instead of your social security number, will help maintain the security of your personal and academic information and protect against identify theft.OSU is converting all SSN-like OSU ID numbers to generated ID numbers that begin with 930. If your OSU ID number is your SSN, it will be converted to a generated ID number by November 14, 2004.
(Emphasis added)
It's about time.
