Slashdot Mirror
Student Financial Aid Database Being Misused
pin_gween writes "The Washington Post reports on the probable abuse of the National Student Loan Data System. The database was created in 1993 to help determine which students are eligible for financial aid. Students' Social Security numbers, e-mail addresses, phone numbers, birth dates, and loan balances are in the database. It contains 60 million student records and is covered by federal privacy laws. Advocates worry that businesses are trolling for marketing data they can use to bombard students with mass mailings or other solicitations. The department has spent over $650,000 in the past four years protecting the data. However, some senior education officials are advocating a temporary shutdown of access to the database until tighter security measures can be put in place."
Only $650k over a few years to protect that much important data? That's about what the US spends on the Iraqi War _every_six_minutes_. What's wrong with this picture?
Solution to telemarketers: just hang up!
Solution to junk mail: just throw it away!
Solution to spam: just delete it!
Are you serious?? Are you mad??
I get consolidation offers every week. Like most physical spam, I toss it in my shred bag. When the bag gets sufficiently full, I shred it.
Now these scum bags are sending offers in envelopes that say things like "final notice," and "government notice." Shouldn't this be illegal? Now I actually have to examine some of the more deceiving items to make sure they're not real.
Not if you apply for something such as a credit card through the mail or online. All you need is name, address, phone, and social security number and you have a credit card in that person's name. In the US, the social security number is the only piece of info most companies need to extend you credit, and then link that account to your credit rating. If the US government really wanted to go after identity theft, they would require physical ID or even lessen the power of the social security number. However, [my speculation]credit card lobbyists [/my speculation] and a "don't care" attitude to really solve the problem from a government stand-point means that the problem will only get worse.
I got nothin'