Purdue Tracking Down 26K Student Applicants Amid Data Breach

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (AP) — Purdue University is tracking down more than 26,000 prospective students to alert them that their names, birthdays, and Social Security numbers were inadvertently sent to the parent of one student applicant.

Purdue Assistant Legal Counsel Trent Klingerman said Thursday that an employee with Purdue's Division of Financial Aid inadvertently sent one prospective student's parent a list of data on the applicants on May 17.

He says that parent immediately notified the sender and cooperated with the university to destroy the file.

Klingerman says Purdue regrets the error but the school has no reason to believe the information was improperly accessed or used.

WLFI-TV reports that Purdue is still mailing those affected letters that include advice on identity protection and is providing them with one year of free credit monitoring.