University of Florida officials have notified 2,047 people that their Social Security or Medicaid identification numbers were included on address labels affixed to letters inviting them to participate in a research study.
The letters were sent through the U.S. Postal Service on May 24, and the information also was shared with a telephone survey company. The problem was discovered June 6, and UF officials immediately launched an investigation. Use of Social Security numbers and certain other individual identifying numbers for non-essential purposes is against university policy.
The company, Burlington, Vt.-based Macro International Inc., plans to purge and destroy the information and sign legal documents indicating the task has been completed. The Gainesville-based printer that produced the mailing labels, Renaissance Printing, has already done so.
Read more of this notice on the University of Florida‘s web site.