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.
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