“Identity theft is becoming a major problem in today’s digital world. The University of Akron’s class of 1974 may have something else to worry about, as the class’s personal information has disappeared. The university informed approximately 1,200 alumni from the class that a reel of microfilm containing their personal information had been lost.”
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Identity theft is becoming a major problem in today’s digital world. The University of Akron’s class of 1974 may have something else to worry about, as the class’s personal information has disappeared.

The university informed approximately 1,200 alumni from the class that a reel of microfilm containing their personal information had been lost.

The microfilm contained names, dates of birth, Social Security numbers and other personal information.

Charles Fey, UA’s vice president of Student Affairs, said the missing microfilm is a minor threat to the alums.

Fey believes that the missing microfilm is simply a case of one of the employees of either the university or the contractor misplacing it.

It’s either in Simmons Hall or at the company, Fey said. It’s probably behind a filing cabinet.

The microfilm was part of a routine digitization process designed to consolidate the records of UA alumni onto a modern format. An outside company is performing the process.

Microfilm requires special equipment to read so the information on the microfilm is not readily accessible.

The university is offering the affected alumni fraud protection services for a year at no cost.

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