A criminal investigation is underway after the on-campus discovery of an unlocked room filled with documents containing students’ personal information.
The documents, which include Social Security information, tax forms and credit card numbers of Binghamton University students and their families, were found by a reporter from student radio station WHRW 90.5 FM last Friday night, according to Robert Glass, WHRW’s news director. There was information on hundreds of thousands of individuals and “a lot” of documents, he added.
Binghamton’s New York State University Police is investigating the matter, including how the information was compromised, and it is being treated as a crime, said University spokeswoman Gail Glover. Officials are speaking with the district attorney about possible charges.
“It’s a challenge to protect information from those who use internal means, including possible criminal acts, to gain access to this kind of material,” she added.
Glass, however, contended the University is “trying to pass this off as a trespass” when the real issue is “abysmal record keeping and security.”
The radio reporter, who had been wandering the building, gained access to the room by pulling himself up onto a Lecture Hall balcony, according to Glass. He found a door which had been taped open and after exploring further saw “filing cabinets stuffed to the gills with documents” containing information for every student going back 10 years, Glass said. They were sorted by Social Security number but lacked any indexing system.
“As far as the reporter could tell, if a document was removed the University would never be able to know,” Glass said.
According to Glover, the storage area was not a public space, and was accessible only through the taped door on a platform 10 to 15 feet above the ground. The doors leading to the room from the public hallway area were locked.
“We don’t believe the information has been used for identity theft purposes,” she added.
The nature of the documents, as well as the reason they were in the room, is currently under investigation, Glover said. Any charges will also be determined after the investigation.
For one student in particular, Glass said, the files contained information on both him and his parents. The family owned a small business and the records of all their employees were also present.
“Third parties were being involved,” he said.
WHRW alerted authorities on Monday. University police launched an investigation right away, Glover said, and police went through the entire complex.
“Not alerting authorities, then taking photographs and using them for sensational journalism is really irresponsible,” she added, referring to the fact that the reporter did not report the incident until Monday afternoon. This, Glover said, casts doubt on whether or not WHRW was truly concerned with campus security.
According to Glass, however, WHRW did not call on Friday because they were afraid coercive action would be taken against them by the University or campus police. They wanted to speak to members of the administration, who were not available that late on Friday night. WHRW called Lloyd Howe, associate vice president and dean of students, Monday morning, Glass said. They were told he was busy and were only able to make a meeting for 4 p.m. that day.
The University, Glass said, was receptive and happy on the first day when WHRW extended an offer of all information if the University promised cooperation. This offer has since been, in essence, rescinded, Glass said.
Glover confirmed that in the initial meeting there was some discussion along the line of assurances.
“However, it was made very clear to [Glass] that if any assurances were to be given, it could not absolve any criminal activity if such were discovered,” she said.
University officials advised WHRW not to go public with the story until the radio station sought legal council, Glass said. Officials also said charges might be pressed.
“UPD [University police] has insinuated that they are considering issuing charges of trespass,” he said.
The files are currently being moved to a more secure location with access restricted to authorized personnel, according to Glover.
Glover said officials are looking into “how the information was handled, how it was secured and protected, and what we can do to improve those processes.”
According to Glass, WHRW has received multiple offers of pro bono representation, but they haven’t accepted any yet because they want to work the issue out in the “least acrimonious way.”
When the radio station called the district attorney to get a comment, he added, WHRW was told dozens of calls had come in supporting them. The callers asked that no charges should be pressed.
National media outlets have expressed interest in reporting the story, Glass said.