Student social security numbers are supposed to be confidential, but thousands of them were lying in a recycling bin in the Logan Hall basement for days.
"My guess is that it was stuck in some office, and someone threw it away without thinking," said Ronald Yeo, Department of Psychology chairman.
The Scantron forms, extra credit assignments and exams from the Department of Psychology went under lock and key Tuesday at noon, Yeo said.
The traffic flow through the basement is very light, he said, adding faculty members, graduate students and custodians are usually the only ones down there.
Students are required to disclose their social security number to the University. The Board of Regents authorized the use of the numbers for identification purposes in 1967.
The papers in the bin were dated four to seven years back and included the names and social security numbers of students, many of whom are still at the University.
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"For my numbers to be in some random recycling bin really pisses me off," said Heike Wright in an e-mail.
Wright said it will make him more cautious of future exams or assignments where the numbers are required.
"I know the University has all sorts of policy on privacy and other stuff," he said, "Why not old papers with social security numbers?"
Yeo said student exams are usually kept for three years. It was the right time, but not the right way to dispose of them, he said.
Department policy is to shred documents before they are thrown away, he said, adding disposal clearly needs to be monitored.
Lea, a representative from the Social Security Administration's local office, said anything could be done with another person's social security number, including identity theft. She could not disclose her last name for security reasons.
"We all fear the day our social security numbers, passports, drivers licenses - a collection of those kind of things - would fall into someone else's hands," said Elizabeth Barton, associate registrar.
Access to credit cards, bank accounts and personal records can be gained with another person's social security number.
Wright said this sort of stuff really scares him.
"Obviously that is confidential information and should be disposed of in a way that would protect that private information," Barton said.
Beginning in April 2006, the Registrar's Office will implement the Banner system, a University-wide switch from a paper-based to a Web-based system. Instead of using social security numbers for ID purposes, students will be assigned a number. Social security numbers will be stored as a cross reference for identification, Barton said.
Some professors do, however, ask students to put social security numbers on exams, but the numbers cannot be used in any way to post student's grades.
"One thing that would have to not happen with that test is that it be shared in any way," Barton said.
Under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974, the University is not allowed to disclose a student's information without written consent from the student.
But personal information can be disclosed to a University collection agency, UNM legal counsel, the NCAA and Mountain West Conference to conform to athletic eligibility, University researchers and officials of cooperating universities among others, according to the UNM Student Records Policy.
Students can request to have this information withheld.
