Sophomore Dan Daly could recite his nine-digit Social Security number with as much ease as his own telephone number. Upon his arrival at Duke, however, Daly met the University’s efforts to phase out extensive use of Social Security numbers in favor of the Duke UniqueID system.
For a system so important to Duke life, people know surprisingly little about the UniqueID. “I don’t really know anything about what the UniqueID does,” Daly said. “But I had to use it this year when I wanted to add food points to my card—last year I could use my Social Security number.”
The change that Daly noted from Social Security numbers to UniqueIDs is due “in large part” to Duke’s attempt to prevent identity theft, Information Technology Security Officer Chris Cramer said. Although Duke has not yet seen a case of Social Security number and identity theft, it has become a worrisome issue at other academic institutions. Cramer explained that because the federal government designed Social Security numbers as identifiers, organizations like banks and credit card companies assume that only the “owner” of a Social Security number knows it.
“We want to decrease the number of people who know your Social Security number to avoid its misuse,” Cramer said
The University announced Sept. 8, 2003 the impending prohibition of Social Security number use as an identifier or authenticator for Duke administrative affairs—except when absolutely necessary. The deadline for this switch was June 30.
“Duke has been very aggressive,” Cramer said. “Other institutions have taken between two to seven years to phase out Social Security use.”
The UniqueID system was created more than seven years ago as one large, common database key. The Office of Information Technology has taken advantage of this database—which from its inception had nothing to do with Social Security numbers—and has used it to help speed the transition from Social Security numbers to a safer mode of authentication.
Each Duke affiliate—students and employees alike—has a UniqueID. The seven-digit number on the upper-left corner of every DukeCard is not only a safer alternative to Social Security numbers, but also a more practical one, Cramer said.
“There are a couple of problems we saw with Social Security numbers,” he said. Most obviously, they house the potential for identity theft, Cramer said, noting also that Social Security numbers sometimes change. Finally, Cramer noted that “not everyone even has a Social Security number.”
Perhaps the greatest advantage of UniqueIDs is that, unlike Social Security numbers, they do not need to be kept secret. They are password-protected in a database and can therefore function to restrict access to information that some people may want to be kept confidential, like Social Security numbers, birth dates and full names.
Despite the University’s unease at pervasive Social Security number use on campus, the student body seems to be generally unconcerned. “To be honest, identity theft doesn’t cross my mind on a daily basis. The only time it crosses my mind is when I’m filling out information or online with a credit card,” senior Alvaro Drevon said.
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