CR80News | Bill would require Arkansas employers, universities to verify Social Security numbers

Monday, January 12, 2009

Proposed legislation has been filed in Arkansas that would require local governments and state agencies, including universities, to verify a student’s or potential employee’s Social Security number before he’s issued an ID card.

Designed to protect against terrorists and the hiring or granting of in-state tuition to illegal aliens, the bill would force governments and colleges to use the federal government’s electronic employment verification system, E-Verify, to check Social Security numbers. Critics, however, say E-Verify can only determine whether a Social Security number is valid, not whether a person who is presenting the number for employment or for admission is the person who was issued the number by the Social Security Administration.

An official at the University of Arkansas said Social Security numbers of potential students are now checked through a federal database called the National Student Clearing House, not E-Verify. The U.S. House of Representatives adopted a bill last year requiring employers to use E-Verify but the Senate never took it up.

An UConn computer with the names and Social Security Numbers of more than 10,000 university applicants was stolen, according to a local news report.

The computer, stolen from an IT storage cabinet at university’s West Hartford campus, had applicant files ranging from 2004 through July 30. UConn officials are still investigating the theft, which was discovered on Aug. 3.

India collecting beggar biometrics

India’s Social Welfare Department has implemented the Beggars Personal Management System to track beggars using biometrics. This effort is to fight recent large-scale deaths and mismanagement within colonies, according to a Deccan Herald article.

Arkansas libraries bound into RFID

Two Central Arkansas public libraries are currently in the process of converting to and installing an RFID-enabled check system, according to a local news report.

Automated library service exposes student and faculty personal data

The College Center for Library Automation in Tallahassee sent out notices about a software upgrade that may have left about 30,000 students, faculty and staff Social Security numbers and other private data vulnerable for theft, according to a local news article.

SIA defends biometrics from Alaskan bill

The Security Industry Association (SIA), a member-based group that advocates on behalf of the security industry in the U.S., has publicly opposed a Bill in Alaska that restricts biometric technology in the state, according to a Security Info Watch article.

UH security breach affects SSNs and credit cards

University of Hawaii officials made an announcement that a hacker was able to breach the security of a parking office server, which contained the personal information of some 53,000 people, according to the Honolulu Star Advertiser.

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Bill would require Arkansas employers, universities to verify Social Security numbers