FERPA
(Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974)
Disclosure of Student SSNs
To meet requirements of the Federal Privacy Act of 1974 and amendments regarding requests by the University for Social Security Numbers (SSN) and provides guidelines for policies and procedures on the proper use and disclosure of the SSN and other identification information to ensure that the Federal Privacy Act requirements are met.
The Federal Privacy Act of 1974 and amendments establish guidelines under which any state agency may request SSN from individuals. Individuals may not be required to give their SSN unless specific to a Federal or State statute. Agencies may not deny any right, benefit or privilege to any individual because of their refusal to disclose their SSN. It is incumbent on the University to inform the individual whether the disclosure is mandatory or voluntary, by what statute or other authority, and what uses will be made of the SSN. (Reference A)
The SSN was not designed to serve as a universal identification mechanism. Casual use of the SSN has led to the escalation of the crime of identity theft. With the SSN accessible to so many people, it is possible for someone to fraudulently use an individual's SSN to assume another identity and gain access to financial and other personal information, risking an individual's personal credit and confidentiality. For many years, the SSN has been used as an identification number in many computer systems, giving access to private information and allowing an easy way to link database information. Federal Privacy Act compliance serves as a deterrent to identity theft and its consequences. It is the intent of the University to take the necessary precautions to protect the identity of all of its constituents by minimizing or eliminating the use of SSN's for identification purposes.
DISCLOSURE OF SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBER
Section 7 of Pub. L. 93-579 provided that: '(a)(1) It shall be unlawful for any Federal, State or local government agency to deny to any individual any right, benefit, or privilege provided by law because of such individual's refusal to disclose his social security account number. '(2) the provisions of paragraph (1) of this subsection shall not apply with respect to - '(A) any disclosure which is required by Federal statute, or '(B) the disclosure of a social security number to any Federal, State, or local agency maintaining a system of records in existence and operating before January 1, 1975, if such disclosure was required under statute or regulation adopted prior to such date to verify the identity of an individual. '(b) Any Federal, State, or local government agency which requests an individual to disclose his social security account number shall inform that individual whether that disclosure is mandatory or voluntary, by what statutory or other authority such number is solicited, and what uses will be made of it.'