On 27-May-05 the GW commando coersion squad reported Bob Vaughan said :
* Jon Lewis:
How hard is it for a university to generate their own student "serial numbers" as students register?
It's probably hard to restructure your databases and rewrite most of your software. 8-(
Of course, any unique identifier will do, but it's hard to make the switch.
Stanford's student/faculty/staff ID system is not based on SSN's, and it has been in place for a number of years. I don't think the previous system was based on SSN's either.
Which brings up the question of why SSN's would be in the career center database in the first place.
One thought. Sadly most universities are attended by those who need money from the goverment in some way or another. Be it a loan or grant that are often managed by the university. Thus one way or another, as far as I know, unless you pay in cash, they require all sorts of identification on file to be able to help you apply for the loan and to manage the loan. Also when people want to check if You have a degree, they have to have a way to translate You to the person who attented the university. So I think the original statement/suggestion stands. They perhaps need your information, but becouse of this, they have a responsibiity to guard that information as well as any swiss bank might guard gold. You can never be just a name again.. Just wait till the biometric data and ID cards come. Nicole
-- -- Welcome My Son, Welcome To The Machine -- Bob Vaughan | techie @ tantivy.net | | P.O. Box 19792, Stanford, Ca 94309 | -- I am Me, I am only Me, And no one else is Me, What could be simpler? --
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