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Following breach, state delays collecting student Social Security numbers
From: Christine Fulgham <christine () opensecurityfoundation org>
Date: Fri, 8 Oct 2010 15:53:49 -0400
http://waldo.villagesoup.com/news/story/following-breach-state-delays-collecting-student-social-security-numbers/354288 Augusta — The effort to build a data system that includes Social Security numbers of public school students was derailed after a technology director in Gardiner's school district was able to view Social Security numbers of school staff elsewhere in the state. Maine's Department of Education responded by dumping all Social Security numbers of public high school students collected to date, and announced Tuesday evening, Sept. 28, that it would delay collecting any more until an independent security review of the software is completed and a report is issued. That could take several weeks, the DOE said. The state education agency is now providing school districts a software script that allows them to upload student enrollment data without Social Security numbers. "A software switch was turned on when it should have been off, or off when it should have been on," said David Connerty-Marin, spokesman for the Maine DOE, on Sept. 28. The collection of Social Security numbers and other private data has met with resistance across the state from school boards, administrators, parents and the Maine Civil Liberties Union, who question the wisdom of posting information about students in a system where data could be stolen. On Sept. 28, the DOE recognized that concern and said in a press release the delay in Social Security number collection and review of the entire Infinite Campus information system are steps taken "as privacy advocates have expressed concerns about the security of the information and because the department learned in the past few days of an error within a secondary data system not connected to the collection of student information." The error was fixed immediately, the DOE said. [...]
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- Following breach, state delays collecting student Social Security numbers Christine Fulgham (Oct 09)