New IDs to be more secure

University officials say new cards designed to help prevent identity theft, will have PeopleSoft identification numbers instead of Social Security numbers

By JENNA NIELSEN

All staff, faculty and students will be getting new ID cards due to new security measures being implemented at Fresno State.

The old cards were coded with students’ social security numbers on the magnetic strip. Now, the cards are encoded with the students’ PeopleSoft ID number.

“Using the students’ social security number used to be legal, until a federal law was passed saying you could no longer use it,” said David Moll, director of public safety.

The new PeopleSoft ID number is for identification purposes only, Moll said. And it has no connection to the social security number.

The conversion to the new IDs, which will take place on March 1, is due to security concerns of campus officials.

“Anyone who has a credit card reader of any kind can get the social security number off of the card,” Moll said.

That includes a restaurant or any establishment that has a reader.

“We want to protect students’ privacy,” Steve Martinez, director of environmental health and safety and risk management said.

The conversion is expensive, but Martinez said it is worth the added security it will give to students.

“The point of all this is that we want to prevent identity theft,” Moll said. With the new cards, their security is immediately increased, he said.

The new card’s features include the students’ PeopleSoft ID number printed on the back. It is easier for different departments to identify students quickly this way.

The new background, of the fountain, was decided on by a committee in order to easily distinguish the old cards from the new ones.

Martinez emphasized it is important for students to pick up their IDs because the old ones will expire and students will not be able to use them for any campus services.

The only exception is if a student has money on his or her old card. When students pick up their new card, key card officials will punch a hole in the magnetic strip, which is separate from the money strip on the bottom of the card.

Students can use up the money on the old card and then destroy it.

It is also important for students to pick up their new cards, which are available now, at their designated location. Students with a last name beginning with A-L need to pick up their card in the Key Card office, located in the Keats building, Room 103 between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. Those with last names that begin with M-Z will need to pick them up in the Student Union from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Students can also pick up their cards Tuesday and Wednesday from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. in the Student Union.

After this week, all cards will need to be picked up in the Key Card office.

Students should bring their old ID cards with them when they go to pick up their new ones.