SMC Students Faced With Information Leak
A student information breach occurred at Santa Monica College (SMC) on Thursday, Sept. 24, 2020. The Latino Center sent an email out to 321 students in the Adelante Program to promote an upcoming Transfer Admission Guarantee (TAG) workshop; however, a document was mistakenly attached that contained the personal contact information of over 300 students including their names, home addresses, and SMC student identification numbers.
Maria Martinez, Faculty Leader of the Latino Center, and Dr. Esau Tovar, Dean of Enrollment Services, both sent out individual emails to students impacted, explaining what had happened, what information was shared, and what steps are being taken to avoid an error like this in the future.
“Thankfully, your passwords and social security numbers were not compromised. It was human error,” said Martinez in her email to students. “We in the Adelante Program truly love and care for you and we would never maliciously do anything to hurt you. We truly feel horrible about this mistake but can assure you that you are being taken care of.”
Martinez also informed students that while they had tried to recall the email, they were informed by the IT team that because it was sent from their Latino Center email inbox, it was not possible. She also told students that “the college has been informed and is currently taking preventative measures to protect your identity at SMC.”
In his email to students whose information was shared, Dr. Tovar went over the course of action SMC is taking to improve student privacy and fraud protection.
Some of these safety measures include having SMC student service staff repeat training on student privacy, reviewing with staff the best practices when sending out emails to students. Notes will also be added to the records of those whose information was displayed in the email, which will urge staff to take extra steps to verify students’ identity.
“I know this causes [students] an additional burden and for that I am sorry. We simply want to be extra cautious to ensure your privacy,” said Dr. Tovar.
Both Martinez and Dr. Tovar asked that students immediately delete the email with the attachment of student information to respect the confidentiality of other students.
Latino Center staff will be providing support to its Adelante club members through counseling services, both over the phone and through Zoom.
