The University of Florida announced last week that more than 11,000 current and former students had their personal information accidentally posted online by the school over a two year period that began in 2003 and ended in 2005. Social security numbers, names, and addresses were uploaded to the internet, opening up a possible identity theft opportunity for criminal elements.

Florida officials discovered the mistake in a recent routine audit and had the information removed immediately. The private information became available when former student employees of the Office for Academic Support and Institutional Service, or OASIS, program created online records of the students who were participating in the program.

Notification letters are being sent to approximately 11,300 students whose information has been compromised, but school officials acknowledge that 570 people cannot be reached because their contact information has since changed.

The University of Florida has set up a section on their website addressing the security breach with information detailing the incident along with incident report and claim forms. That section can be found at http://privacy.ufl.edu/

Regardless of what approach the university takes to help resolve the problem, impacted students should obtain copies of their three credit reports and check them periodically for suspicious activity. Although the university removed the information, cached pages often live on. In other words, archived pages might still be found which would contain your personal records.

All consumers are entitled to receive one free copy of each credit report annually through www.annualcreditreport.com. If you suspect that your personal information has been compromised, then obtain your credit reports immediately and inspect them for mistakes.

Further Reading

4 Steps To Recover From Identity Theft

I.D. Theft Remains Number One Consumer Complaint

Tags: college, college records, Florida Gators, i.d. theft, identity theft, student records, university, University of Florida

With millions of students in attendance at various schools of higher learning across the US, campus life is the frequent topic of discussion in the news. From victory on the basketball court to the slaying of students and faculty members by a mad gunman, university news has its place in the public sector. Let’s take a look back at five of the top campus news breaking events for 2007.

Duke Lacrosse Case — Three Duke University lacrosse players were wrongfully accused of rape in a case that dated back to March 2006. Taking the word of a stripper, Durham County (NC) attorney, Mike Nifong, pursued three students before the case was dismissed in April 2007 and Nifong discredited. Duke’s lacrosse coach, Mike Pressler, was forced to resign and the impacted students are now suing.

Appalachian States Stuns Michigan — The 2007 college football season was one filled with turbulence as so many schools with a top ten ranking lost, almost on a weekly basis. The upsets started with a bang when 1-AA Appalachian State roared into Lansing, Michigan and knocked off then #5 1-A Wolverines, 34-32. The Mountaineers then went on to win their third consecutive 1-AA national championship earlier this month.

Slaying At Virginia Tech — On April 16, a gunman massacred 32 students and faculty members on the campus of Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, VA. The killer, a troubled college senior by the name of Seung-Hoi Cho, killed himself. The incident was the worst case of school violence ever in the US.

Big Donor Aids Wisconsin Students — The ever increasing cost of higher education is making it difficult for some families to pay for their children’s schooling. For Wisconsin students, a former state resident and philanthropist has promised $175 million to aid as many as 3000 students annually beginning next year. John Morgridge pledged the monies in honor of his brother who paved the way for Morgridge to attend college.

University of Florida Taser Event — “Don’t tase me, bro!” became the rallying cry of a University of Florida student who begged police not to use a taser on him when he interrupted a speech by Senator John Kerry. A video capturing the event was posted online, giving millions of people the opportunity to witness the incident as it happened. You can see the remixed version of the video here.

What other events of significance in 2007 stand out for you? Feel free to add to this list by including your comment today.

Tags: Appalachian State, Duke Lacrosse, Duke University, University of Florida, University of Michigan, Virginia Tech, Virginia Tech Massacre, Wisconsin