The Department of Education received several complaints Aug. 23 because people could access other peoples’ personal information on its student loan Web site.

According to The Associated Press, the department said only a “limited number” of the program’s 6.4 million borrowers were believed to be affected after the problem began the previous Sunday, since not all use the online system.

Roberta Johnson, director of student financial aid, said the Department of Education acted swiftly to correct the problem. She wasn’t aware of the problem affecting ISU students.

“I’ve heard nothing that would lead me to believe that Iowa State students were affected,” Johnson said.

According to the AP, the problem started with a software upgrade that appeared to mix up data for different borrowers when they accessed the Web site.

Maury Hope, associate chief information officer for IT services, said nothing like the national problem has happened to the AccessPlus site, but recommends students take precautions to protect their information.

“Students should be careful not to share information with others,” Hope said. “Anytime something like this has happened students accidentally shared their passwords with others.”

Hope said making sure to log out and having strong passwords were the best things students could do to protect their personal data.

He said IT’s system has been rated very high by independent researchers and includes a time-out feature that will automatically log someone out of the system after a few minutes of being idle. It will also lock someone out after several incorrect password entries.

According to the AP, the Department of Education’s program involves holders of federal direct student loans, not those who have loans managed through private companies.

Hope said if anyone is experiencing difficulty with the AccessPlus Web site to call the IT Services office at 294-4000.