Published: Wednesday, February 22, 2012 at 2:28 p.m.
Last Modified: Wednesday, February 22, 2012 at 2:28 p.m.
The University of Florida is notifying 719 individuals that their Social Security numbers were improperly posted on a state website for more than six years.
The numbers came from students and others with unclaimed money from such things as financial aid or parking fine refunds. In July 2005, the university submitted their information including Social Security numbers in its annual unclaimed property report to the state Department of Financial Services.
The department posted the information on its Bureau of Unclaimed Property website. It was taken down Jan. 12, the same day it was discovered, according to UF.
UF officials don’t know if the information was accessed or used. No other personal information from its annual reports was improperly posted online, according to UF.
State law requires UF’s Privacy Office to issue notifications if personal identification was improperly released so that protective steps can be taken. Previous incidents include two computer hard drives containing names, addresses and Social Security numbers being stolen in September 2011 from the College of Engineering building.
In April 2011, the privacy office notified 617 cardiothoracic patients that their Social Security numbers were provided to a national database. In March, the office discovered a privacy breach that happened in 2002 involving Social Security numbers and other personal information from a physics department server being accessible online.
The university is directing anyone with concerns about privacy breaches to call the privacy office hot line at 1-866-876-HIPA.
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