How safe it your and your parent's financial information?

[JohnMadden]

Is anyone concerned about the safety of their financial information (personal and parent's) while applying for financial aid?

Why do I mention this: Johns Hopkins lost a LOT of university employee and student information. It was a big deal in the local Baltimore media. I'm a little worried because Hopkins requires you to submit everything (returns, W-2, 1099, etc) and it made me worry about the security of my information.

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[LizzyM]

If you are concerned, ask. Don't phone. Send a letter. Ask what safeguards are in place to protect sensitive information such as name, address, SS# and so forth that can be used for identity theft. The first person prosecuted for a violation of HIPAA was a worker who stole patient information from medical records & used it to apply for credit cards. It doesn't hurt to check and let schools know that you are looking out for yourself. (Someone who is sensitive about their own privacy will, one hopes, be respectful of others, too).

 

[notdeadyet]

Is anyone concerned about the safety of their financial information (personal and parent's) while applying for financial aid?

Yes. Medical school applications violate all sorts of privacy and security protocols you'd find on most business sites. The idea of logging in with a social security number to so many websites gives me hives.

Lizzy's rec is a good one. The only schools that won't reply are probably the ones that should make you nervous...

 

[bbabul01]

Poor you. I'm just going to guess this means you didn't exactly deal with financial aid as an undergrad? Worry less about keeping your info secure and more about how much financial aid blows in general.