Temple University: 90 Affected
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: September 26, 2007Media Contact: Aaron Titus
(202) 669-2969
PHILADELPHIA, Pennsylvania. In September, 2007 the Liberty Coalition discovered two files containing partial social security numbers, grades, passwords, and other sensitive personal information for about 90 students at Temple University. All of the files were posted in the Computer Information System department, in a folder called "~shi." The University was notified, and removed the files within a few business hours of notification, and requested search engines purge their caches.
On September 26, University Privacy Officer Robert Edamala notified the Liberty Coalition that the university has
"...requested audits of their systems... [and] that faculty and staff arrange for, and attend, a seminar on Information Security and Privacy... Temple University is sensitive to the issue of privacy and has formulated policies and procedures that cover the handling, transmittal and storage of confidential information. In addition, for the past few years, we have dedicated the month of October to Information Security and Privacy Awareness, during which we hold educational campaigns on the topic."
Individuals affected by this exposure should immediately visit www.nationalidwatch.org and search for their names, to confirm what types of personal information were exposed. NationalIDWatch.org has a list of recommended steps victims should take.
About NationalIDWatch.org
National ID Watch is a search engine for personal information breaches. Sponsored by the Washington, DC non-profit Liberty Coalition, NationalIDWatch.org provides more than a million free personalized Identity Exposure Reports™ as a public service.
Each Identity Exposure Report (IXR) documents what types of personal information were exposed (such as Social Security Numbers, Birth Dates, Addresses, etc.), without revealing them. Each IXR also details the situation surrounding each exposure, and contact information of those responsible for the breach. Armed with this information, victims can further investigate, take action, or correct harm.