Allison Suer reports:

The Social Security numbers of 19 special events employees were leaked in an e-mail sent by another Ball State employee on Jan. 27, Tony Proudfoot, associate vice president for marketing and communications, said in a press release.

The incident occurred because the 19 special events employees mistakenly put their Social Security numbers in a column designated for Ball State ID numbers, Proudfoot said. Special events employees, whose jobs include assisting during events as ushers or referees, were sent the e-mail to verify payroll contact information. Of the 91 employees who received the e-mail, only 19 submitted Social Security numbers instead of Ball State ID numbers.

Within minutes one of the affected employees replied to the e-mail alerting the university of the problem, and the university “immediately” went into action, Proudfoot said. University Computing Services was contacted and then proceeded to retract and delete the e-mails, he said.

Read more in DN Online