STUDENT IDENTITY EXPOSED

An unknown number of UTEP students have received an official letter from UTEP alerting them that their Social Security numbers were revealed when their tax forms were mailed to them.

"When your 2009 1098T Tax Statement was mailed, it may have been improperly folded which may have allowed your Social Security number to be visible through the clear cellophane envelope window," says the letter signed by Jose Carlos Hernandez, vice president for Business Affairs.

There is not a clear indication of how many people may have been affected, but according to Hernandez every student whose forms were processed was already notified of the mistake.

"I can't tell you whether it was five, 10, 20 or 1,000 students that were affected, since we have no way of knowing how many students may have been affected," Hernandez said.
According to Hernandez the issue was not the result of a human mistake.

"We had a problem with the automatic folding machine. I can't really say how exactly it happened, but it was just a problem with the machine that was used," Hernandez said.
Late last week, students began to receive the notices in the mail.

"My first reaction when I got the letter was that I was pissed off. I don't understand how UTEP could let something like this happen," said Michael Galindo, senior computer science major. "Then the letter they sent was just like ‘Oops, we revealed your Social Security number our bad, but now it is your problem, good luck.'"

Sylvia Rappe, director of business services, said the letter sent to students included information on what actions they can take to make sure their Social Security numbers are not used inappropriately.

"It gives them advice on steps they can take to make sure none of their information is being used," Rappe said. "One of the best actions they can do is to check for any discrepancies in their credit."

Some of the suggested actions included also to monitor their bank statements, credit card statements and periodically reviewing their credit reports.

"The information they gave in the letter really doesn't help. If anyone got my information, there really isn't anything I can do right now," said Fernando Hernandez, junior computer information systems and marketing major. "UTEP made a big mistake and now all I can do is wait and see if anything happens to me."

To prevent any leak of student information in the future, Jose Hernandez said that his department will change the way they fold the forms and will also look into other additional measures to protect the student body.

"What we are looking to do the next time around is to fold the form a different way, so none of the student's information is revealed. Usually on the reverse side of these forms there is just instructions and a blank area, so we will probably print the mailing address on this side instead of where the Social Security number is," Jose Hernandez said.

For any questions or concerns students have on whether their Social Security was revealed or on options the students have, they are advised to contact the Payroll Office at 747-5171.

Aaron Martinez may be reached at prospector@utep.edu.