ID cards enable Miami to store data about student movement

Hunter Stenback, Online Editor Miami University student I.D. cards may be used for more than just swiping into buildings or buying lunch. In fact, student I.D. cards also store students' personal identification numbers and chronicle the cardholder's activities. Student I.D. cards have the student's plus number encoded in the magnetic strip and also have a PIK number on the chip on the card, which is a unique number to identify the I.D. According to Joseph Bazeley, information security officer for IT Services, when the magnetic strip is swiped, the reader is able to pull out the plus number, which is then recorded in the system. "While there is little information actually stored on the card, it is important to remember that the vast majority of student information is stored in BannerWeb, and we have the ability to link other systems to Banner to either access or store information," Bazeley said. "The badge access system does contain some information about students, which is accessible to a Miami employee accessing the badge access system through a used." 'It takes more than a phone call' Another example of a records request that would be approved includes releasing the data for use in a disciplinary hearing with the Office of Ethics and Student Conflict Resolution (OESCR), Miami's student court, to confirm whether or not a student had swiped into his/her room around the time he/she said. Susan Vaughn, director of OESCR, said the records are rarely accessed and are mainly used for safety purposes. "The records are accessed by our office maybe once or twice a year," Vaughn said. "I could see other offices might need them to verify whether or not a person has actually been on invasive." According to Bazeley, the university is committed to maintaining student