Information Security is Everyone’s Responsibility

California State University, Long Beach is strongly committed to protecting the privacy and ensuring the security of University information assets including confidential data. However, translating this commitment from words to practice requires the involvement of everyone and information security is everyone’s responsiblity. Some of these responsiblities are briefly highlighted below.

University Administrators are responsible for ensuring compliance with established information security policies, standards and procedures within their respective college, department, or administrative area or auxiliary organization.

CSULB Faculty, CSULB Staff Members, and employees of CSULB auxiliary organizations who in the course and scope of their duties and responsibilities access, collect, distribute, process, store, use, transmit or dispose of confidential data are responsible for following established information security policies, standards, and procedures.

The University Information Security Officer is responsible for implementing the University Information Security Policy; developing standards, procedures and communications regarding the acquisitions, transmission, processing, maintenance, safeguarding, release and disposal of information assets; developing appropriate training and informational materials; and assessing and ensuring the university’s compliance with applicable laws, regulations, and CSU information security policies and standards.

Division Information Security Officers, who are appointed or designated by each Vice President, the Director of Athletics, and each auxiliary organization, to serve as a conduit between the University Information Security Officer and their respective division/area. They work closely with the University Information Security Officer to guide compliance with established University information security policies, standards and procedures within their respective division/area. The current Division Information Security Officers are:

Academic Affairs
Dr. David Dowell, Vice Provost
ddowell@csulb.edu (562) 985-4128

Administration and Finance
Dr. Maryann Rozanski, Information Security Officer
mrozansk@csulb.edu (562) 985-8260

Associated Students, Inc.
Richard Haller, Executive Director
rhaller@csulb.edu (562) 985-5241

CSULB Foundation
Alan Ray, Chief Financial Officer
adray@csulb.edu (562) 985-8756

Department of Athletics
Cindy Masner, Senior Associate Athletics Director/SWA
masner@csulb.edu (562) 985-8527

Forty-Niner Shops
Donna Soto, ID Card Services Manager
donna@csulb.edu (562) 985-7719

Student Services
Dr. Mike Hostetler, Associate Vice President
Dean of Students
jmhostet@csulb.edu (562) 985-5241

University Relations and Development
Brian Lawver, Director, Advancement Services
bslawver@csulb.edu (562) 985-5299

Please don’t hesitate to contact any of these individuals if you have questions regarding University information security policies, standards and procedures.

Data Brokers Have Your Number

Data brokers are information aggregators/gatherers that profit by collecting and selling confidential information about you. While data brokers have collected information about individuals for decades, faster computers and cheaper electronic data storage have fueled the growth of the information aggregator industry. The richest source of information for data brokers are public records. In past years, they hired researchers to visit courthouse and county clerk’s offices to retrieve information from paper records, but increasingly, state and local governments post records online, making data gathering simpler and less costly.

A 2004 U.S. Government Accountability Office study found that up to 18 percent of counties in the U.S. posted records with Social Security numbers on-line. A review of online documents for Maricopa County, Arizona, an area with the highest per-capita rate of ID theft in 2005, found individuals’ Social Security numbers on deeds, death certificates, federal tax liens, and divorce filings, one of which also included the couple’s credit-card account numbers.

Data brokers "slice and dice" your information with data-mining software to create targeted lists to appeal to marketers. Remember all those colorful bits of detail about your ailments and hobbies that you supplied on warranty cards? Data brokers combine this information with information drawn from other sources such as public records and credit transactions to provide a "three-dimensional view" of you to marketers.

What You Can Do:

While you have no control over much of the data collection and sharing that occurs, you can limit the amount of information circulating about you.

Opt out of:

Telemarketing. Put your name on the Federal Trade Commission's Do Not Call registry or call 888-382-1222.

Unwanted solicitations. Ask financial institutions, retailers, and Web sites not to share your information with other nonaffiliated companies.

Contact the Direct marketing Association to:

• get your name removed from mailing lists
• for unsolicited e-mail

Sales of your information to others. The Privacy Rights Clearinghouse lists data brokers that offer limited opt-out policies.

Keep your information private:

Don’t fill out surveys on warranty cards. Just provide your name, address, and necessary product information, and your warranty will be honored. Be careful with direct-mail surveys that don’t come from companies with which you already do business.

Don’t provide sensitive information on the phone, through the mail, or over the Internet unless you’ve initiated the contact or you’re sure that it’s from an organization you trust. If in doubt, contact the organization.

Check what’s on file about you:

Order you free annual report from each of the major nationwide credit-reporting companies once every 12 months.

Request your files from the major data brokers: ChoicePoint and LexisNexis. You can call Acxiom at 877-774-2094 or send e-mail to referencereport@acxiom.com.

Get medical information: If you’ve applied for individual health or life insurance policies within the past seven years, the MIB Group keeps data that insurers use to help determine your rates. Get a report by calling toll-free at 866-692-6901.

Consumer Reports, October 2006