Content

Bates College student newspaper uncovers data leak

Two documents containing the personal information of Bates College student loan recipients were publicly accessible through the Lewiston, Maine institution's computer network.

What kind of personal information? Names, Social Security numbers, addresses, birth dates and loan amounts.

How many victims? About 500 recipients of the federal Perkins Loan.

What was the response? The school's Information and Library Services Office plans to notify the victims and continue to investigate.

Details: The data, uncovered by the college's student newspaper, The Bates Student, was contained in two documents on the Student Financial Services Office server and could be accessed with a Bates username and password. The paper's managing news editor was interviewed as part of the investigation.

Source: batesstudent.com, The Bates Student Online, "'Potential Breach' of Confidential Student Data," Oct. 23

Get daily email updates

SC Media's daily must-read of the most current and pressing daily news

By clicking the Subscribe button below, you agree to SC Media Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy.