Purdue University Identification: Social Security Number Remediation
Purdue University is dedicated to ensuring the privacy and proper handling of the Social Security Numbers of the students, employees, and other individuals associated with the University. In the past, Social Security Numbers have been used in University systems to uniquely identify students and employees and to permit students and employees to gain access to their own confidential information within University systems. As University systems are updated and replaced, unnecessary reliance on Social Security Numbers as identifiers will be eliminated. Although the University is dedicated to phasing out the use of Social Security Numbers in most applications, Social Security Numbers may still be collected and used when necessary for employment records, financial aid records, and a limited number of other business and governmental transactions, as required by law.
The Purdue University Identified (PUID) number was designed to take the place of current identification number keys such as Student Identification (SID) numbers and Social Security Numbers in many University systems and processes. Since 2000, the University has been in the process of replacing Social Security Numbers with the PUID as the primary identifier within University systems. While Social Security Numbers may still be used for some purposes as required by law (i.e., for employment and financial aid purposes), the PUID is the primary number with which to establish a person's identity for University business. PUIDs are represented in printed form as 00000-00000, which further helps to distinguish a PUID from a nine-digit Social Security Number.
Using the PUID is superior to using a person's Social Security Number for such authorization and authentication because the PUID is an identifier internal only to Purdue University. The PUID has no value or validity relating to a person's identity outside of the Purdue University system. Therefore, if a person's PUID is compromised in some way, it is highly unlikely that other identifying information about that person will be exposed.
Purdue University's Social Security Number Policy
SSN remediation: Translation resources and services for converting SSN to PUID are available by request. You may contact Purdue's Identity and Access Management Office via email (itap@purdue.edu) to discuss available options.