Georgetown student data exposed in 'inadvertent setting change'

WASHINGTON — A Georgetown University administrator apologized on Thursday after a technical glitch exposed private classmate information to dozens of students.

"This was not the result of an external attack or security compromise of our system," Georgetown's Chief Information Officer Doug Little said on Thursday. "Instead an inadvertent setting change that allowed a subset of existing users with GU IDs to gain access to data that would otherwise only be used by administrative staff," 

The university said the issue was fixed by 8:30 a.m. on Thursday, after a period of exposure that started at 8 a.m. on Wednesday. 

Georgetown estimated that 29 students and recent graduates were able to see the private data that was usually reserved for administrative staff. 

According to the Georgetown Voice, the student newspaper, social security numbers, GPAs, financial aid information and immigration statuses were among the private information seen by those students. 

University officials said they have been in touch with the 29 who had access. 

"We have contacted the individuals with unauthorized access and instructed them to delete any data that may have been obtained," CIO Doug Little said. "Using, sharing or saving any of this data could violate university policy and have legal ramifications."