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Thursday, 08 March 2007 |
AppCard protection, security long overdue
The Appalachian State University AppCard Office will activate new cards with a banner identification number, instead of the Social Security number currently encoded, beginning March 19.
The Appalachian believes this is a very smart, yet extremely overdue decision made by the university.
With the ever-constant threat of identity theft, students should not have to give out their Social Security numbers to strangers on a regular basis.
For example, the university should have realized the unintelligence of the Pizzeria process long ago.
A student should not be required to give their name, residence hall,
social security number and phone number when ordering delivery pizza.
This issue should have been addressed long before North Carolina passed
a Session Law requiring the university system to stop using Social
Security numbers as identifiers and stating that a Social Security
number cannot be imbedded on any card required for access to government
services.
According to www.legal.uncc.edu, the University of North Carolina at
Charlotte implemented the banner system in 2005 and began the
“migration from using Social Security numbers as primary personal
identification numbers for students and employees to an alternate ID.”
The Appalachian wonders why Appalachian has waited until now, only a
few months before the July 1 deadline, to finally change the system.
Regardless of the reason the change has taken so long, many of the new changes will be a welcomed relief.
The Appalachian applauds the university’s decision to create a system
that will not force students to memorize their new banner ID number.
Registrar Don R. Rankins said he hopes the university can figure out a
way students will never have to use their banner ID. He hopes most
businesses on campus can use an alternative form of identification
such as e-mail and passwords for online services.
Students will appreciate having one less number to memorize, and
facilities using the number will be glad they do not have to rely on
the memory of students.
Despite the positive effects this change will bring about, The
Appalachian believes the university must do a better job making
students aware of the switch.
An AppalNET announcement is a good start but the university needs to
send e-mails and fill post-office boxes to assure each and every
student is aware of the change.
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