University of Missouri’s slip up may leak students’ SSN
21 January, 2010
category: Education
In a recent mass mail out performed by the University of Missouri over 75,000 1098-T forms were sent out, some of which may have displayed students’ Social Security numbers in envelopes’ windows, according to the Missourian.
Roughly 100 people replied to an e-mail notifying students of the potential breach, said University Vice President Nikki Krawitz. The university had no way of accessing how many envelopes displayed the numbers.
Krawitz says the Campus Mail Services committed the folding errors and responded by simply stating concerned students and parents should look into credit monitoring services, such as Experian. The placement of Social Security numbers has been changed on some tax forms, such as the W-2 form, but has not yet been changed on Form 1098-T.
Columbia resident Rex Cone received his form in the mail and said his Social Security number was printed above his name and anyone could have seen it through the envelope window. “I was originally stunned,” Cone said. “It was so blatant — Student Social Security Number — boom!”
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