Spring Break
University implements policy to ensure student privacy
By: Kenny Ryan
Issue date: 4/15/08 Section: News
"Most of what we've found, to be honest, we've found through Google, Yahoo and MSN," said Aaron Titus, the information privacy director for the Liberty Coalition. "We start thinking like a lazy ID thief. It's just using the search, no Google hacking or anything like that."
The Liberty Coalition uses SSNBreach.org to search the Internet for personal information breaches. It then contacts the source of the breach so that it can be aware of the issue and resolve it. After the data is secured, it puts out a press release so those affected can be aware of what happened.
"What we did is [when] we found the Texas A&M information, we document the names and types of information exposed," Titus said. "We then contacted Texas A&M and let them know about it, and they responded.
"We notified them Dec. 28. They confirmed the info was deleted Jan. 10. But it remained in search engine caches through late March 2008. As far as we can tell, the search engine caches have cleared. We have a strict policy; we wait for a search engine caches to clear before we make an announcement.
"Having said that, once it's on the Internet, it's thrown to the Internet winds. There's no way to get it back. For me, the most frustrating part is that nobody on this list [can be guaranteed they are safe]. I don't know if there's a copy of this on a Russian hard drive, or a Czech search engine - I just don't know."
However, this is not an event that happens only at A&M. Titus said it happens all the time.
"This story repeats itself almost weekly at some different university in the United States," Titus said. "[The document] sat there and some search engine, like Yahoo or Google, found it and picked it up.
"When you search the Internet, you aren't searching the Internet, you are searching Yahoo or Google's copy of the Internet. That's how they get you searches so quickly. So Yahoo or Google, maybe others, have a copy of this information.
The Liberty Coalition uses SSNBreach.org to search the Internet for personal information breaches. It then contacts the source of the breach so that it can be aware of the issue and resolve it. After the data is secured, it puts out a press release so those affected can be aware of what happened.
"What we did is [when] we found the Texas A&M information, we document the names and types of information exposed," Titus said. "We then contacted Texas A&M and let them know about it, and they responded.
"We notified them Dec. 28. They confirmed the info was deleted Jan. 10. But it remained in search engine caches through late March 2008. As far as we can tell, the search engine caches have cleared. We have a strict policy; we wait for a search engine caches to clear before we make an announcement.
"Having said that, once it's on the Internet, it's thrown to the Internet winds. There's no way to get it back. For me, the most frustrating part is that nobody on this list [can be guaranteed they are safe]. I don't know if there's a copy of this on a Russian hard drive, or a Czech search engine - I just don't know."
However, this is not an event that happens only at A&M. Titus said it happens all the time.
"This story repeats itself almost weekly at some different university in the United States," Titus said. "[The document] sat there and some search engine, like Yahoo or Google, found it and picked it up.
"When you search the Internet, you aren't searching the Internet, you are searching Yahoo or Google's copy of the Internet. That's how they get you searches so quickly. So Yahoo or Google, maybe others, have a copy of this information.
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