Many students’ classified documents are given to universities all around the country. 

The privacy of these documents are most often upheld and protected by the security protocols provided by Information Technology Services of these universities.

Vital student documentation is entrusted to the university, including social security numbers, demographic information, grades, transcripts, degree audits and bank account information.

The office of the registrar is one area of Iowa State that takes in countless forms which contain such private material.

“We are the guardians of student information. We have to be one of the largest clients of IT,” said Laura Doering, registrar of Records and Registration.

To protect students, IT Serivces uses standard security precautions for high valued data, such as firewalls and intrusion detection systems. A breach in the university’s system is unlikely.

The University of Virginia, however, cannot say the same. According to the Roanoke Times, an incident occurred in mid-July in which private information of more than 18,000 students was disclosed. Printed on the outside of health insurance brochures were the social security numbers of the university’s students.

In 2008, the University of Virginia proposed an initiative to “phase out” the use of Social Security numbers with the use of university I.D.s, a method Iowa State already is using.

This was not the only occasion where the public was made aware of confidential student information.

Incidents occurring in 2006, 2007 and 2012 also openly announced private information. For this article, officials at the University of Virginia could not be reached for comment.

Michelle Hendricks, director of Thielen Student Health Center, assures that if an incident were to occur at Iowa State, measures would be taken to uphold the protection of its students.

“We follow all of the federal health care privacy guidelines in our management of protecting health information at Student Health,” Hendricks said. “We recognize the high standards of privacy that we’re required to meet and maintain.”

In the case of a breach, the university will notify persons involved, and steps will be taken in order to reduce the risk of having their information openly published.

“There are scans done on a regular basis to access the security of the software,” said Andy Weisskopf, senior systems analyst for IT Services.

Due to the consistent amount of scans done, a rift in security is not likely to go unnoticed, and therefore action can be taken immediately to resolve the situation if one were to

occur, Weisskopf said.

“I would certainly say we are better than others. We are definitely not below average,” Weisskopf said about the service Iowa State provides to protect its students.