LOGAN, Utah – Almost 350 names and Social Security numbers of students were accidentally emailed to more than 1,000 people by a Utah State University staff member Thursday, and the school is offering free credit monitoring to those who are affected.
According to a statement from Tom Vitale, Vice President of Communication at USU, a staff member accidentally sent the email message, which included 347 names and Social Security numbers and was sent to 1,033 people who are in a group of USU student veterans. The school took “immediate action to notify those people affected.”
School officials apologized and said they have taken steps to prevent such incidents in the future. They said the mistake was an unintentional human error that happened because a critical procedure was not followed. The processes relating to such procedures have been changed and reviewed with the office involved.
USU advised those affected to monitor their financial accounts, and they are offering 12 months of credit monitoring to them at no cost.
The release stated: “The university is committed to maintaining the privacy of student and employee information by continually improving systems and practices to enhance the security of sensitive information.”
