A social security number is information you should protect.

But for some alumni at Broome Community College, their number flowed openly through the mail.

The most recent edition of the BCC Alumni magazine had the social security number of the recipient on the mailing address.

It was on about half of the 28-thousand magazines sent out.

Officials were alerted to the error last Wednesday.

"It wasn't prominent. It was on the mailing label. It had no hyphens so unless it's the person's whose number it is, it's not identifiable as a social security number," says BCC Alumni Affairs Director Natalie Thompson.

New bulk mailing requirements from the post office call for an ID number for recipients.

For some students that was their student ID, which happened to be their social security number.

BCC stopped using social security numbers as student ID numbers in 2004.