| PublicationDate: 6/14/96 Summary: PIN Protection and Access Author: CSB - SFA Customer Support Branch Announcement # 64, June 14, 1996 PIN Protections and Access Until very recently, if a caller to our toll-free number (1-800-4 FED AID) identified himself or herself as a particular student and gave the student's four identifiers (name, SSN, address, and date of birth), the operators would, if requested, bring up the caller's record and tell the caller what his or her Personal Identity Number (PIN) was. This practice made the aid process more convenient in situations where the student did not know his or her PIN number, but wanted to provide it to an aid administrator at a school that was not listed on the student's FAFSA. We have been reviewing this practice in the context of a larger discussion about privacy safeguards and the release of PIN numbers, about the use of a PIN in the current delivery system and whether it is actually needed, and about future student aid delivery systems and student identifiers. We feel at this time that in allowing the operators to release a PIN to a caller who knows the four identifiers, we may have gone a step too far and we feel a "time out" from this practice is needed while we reexamine it. To help us in our discussion, we welcome your comments about access to and protection of PINs, and about when we should (and just as importantly, when we should not) release a student's PIN. Please e-mail your comments to us at: csb@sfa.ope.ed.gov |