From: mike 


http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/14/AR2007041401444
_pf.html

===
Some lending companies with access to a national database that contains
confidential information on tens of millions of student borrowers have
repeatedly searched it in ways that violate federal rules, raising alarms
about data mining and abuse of privacy, government and university officials
said.

The improper searching has grown so pervasive that officials said the
Education Department is considering a temporary shutdown of the
government-run database to review access policies and tighten security.
Some worry that businesses are trolling for marketing data they can use to
bombard students with mass mailings or other solicitations.

Students' Social Security numbers, e-mail addresses, phone numbers, birth
dates and sensitive financial information such as loan balances are in the
database, which contains 60 million student records and is covered by
federal privacy laws. "We are just in shock that student data could be
compromised like this," said Nancy Hoover, director of financial aid
at Denison University in Ohio.

Education Department spokeswoman Katherine McLane said the agency has spent
more than $650,000 since 2003 to safeguard the database. The department has
blocked thousands of users that it deemed unqualified for access after
security reviews, McLane said, and it has blocked 246 users from the
student loan industry for inappropriately accessing the data.

In general, the department allows lenders to search records in the database
only if they have a student's permission or a financial relationship with
the student....
===



Understatement:   "We are just in shock that student data could be
compromised like this," said Nancy Hoover, director of financial aid
at Denison University in Ohio.


  /m

--- BBBS/NT v4.01 Flag-5