SSN Exemption Request

SSNs and other personal identity information are confidential data and the theft and/or unintentional compromise of such data has become a major issue in higher education. The Chancellor has charged UNK to eliminate all non-essential use of SSN by January 1, 2008. Exceptions must have the Chancellor's approval.

INSTRUCTIONS:

  1. Complete the form online with the exception of the Department Head signature box.
  2. Print the completed form.
  3. Department Head signs the form and forward to:

Andrea Childress
Assistant Vice President for Information Technology Services
114 Otto Olsen
University of Nebraska Kearney
Kearney, NE 68849

Information Technology Services will review the form and forward it to the Chancellor for approval.

Purpose and Audience:
The University of Nebraska Kearney recognizes the increased concern about individual privacy and the risk of identity theft. The Social Security Number (SSN) is classified as private data. The protection and confidentiality of the SSN is covered under Regents policy, federal law, and state law. Historically, the SSN has been employed to help identify and match records. However, current directives discourage this practice and make use of the SSN subject to approval. This procedure is intended to specifically address issues related to the use of the SSN in university systems, including self-service applications and departmentally administered systems. Our objectives are to:

  1. Eliminate the collection of the SSN except where required by law.
  2. Eliminate the use of SSN in data systems, including display pages and reports.
  3. Require the use of an exemption request when using or storing the SSN.
  4. Increase awareness about the concern for privacy and the risk of identity theft related to the disclosure of the SSN.

The University is required to collect the SSN for a variety of legally mandated activities (e.g., income tax reporting, federally supported financial aid). All such cases, including existing systems, must be documented, reviewed, and approved by the Assistant Vice Chancellor of Information Technology or designee.

One Request Per Application
An exemption request must be made for each application that you own, run, and/or utilize if that application uses SSNs. The application may be specific to the function of your office. It may be a "shadow system" with an associated data base and/or data files. It may be a test version of an application. Or it may be a Word document or Excel Spreadsheet. (State law prohibits the use of employee SSNs to identify employees except for those uses required for tax and benefit purposes.)

New Applications Require New Requests
An exemption request must be made for any new application that will utilize SSN. The exemption request should be submitted before the purchase of the application. At test version of an application will require its own exemption request.

Automatic Exemptions
Employees with accounts for accessing SAP/HR and SIS do no need to request exemptions for SAP/HR or SIS access. If you extract SSNs from SAP/HR and/or SIS and store those SSNs on electronic devices, such as your desktop, network storage, flash drive, or other mobile device, you must submit an exemption request.

Annual Renewal
Exemptions are granted for one year and will be reviewed annually. Exemptions must be submitted annually.
Download the request form.