Students, faculty and staff with Stanford ID cards issued before January 2017 will need to replace their ID cards by Oct. 22 in order to retain card access to Main Quad buildings, according to Campus Card Services Director Jay Kohn.
The swap comes as part of an effort by Card Services to increase building security. Old wired card readers on some buildings have been replaced with new ones, which interact with smart chips in the new cards to create an encrypted communication between card and reader.
Previous cards were not encrypted and could have allowed the capture and display of sensitive information.
Increased security on the new cards decreases their read range from 15 inches to 1 or 2 inches, according to University spokesperson E.J. Miranda. They will not work through most obstructions, including most wallets or purses.
“We’re also in the process of looking at using mobile technology to make access easier while retaining security,” wrote Miranda in an email to The Daily.
The new cards, released after January 2017, include an “-E” as part of the number on the back. Students, faculty and staff whose cards do not include the “-E” will need to replace that card, as will holders of temporary access cards that do not include the “-E.”
Libraries and gyms will continue to recognize old cards issued to spouses and dependents.
After being contacted by Campus Card Services, old cardholders can swap their cards at the ID Card Office in Tresidder Memorial Union during business hours, free of charge.
Alternatively, departments can organize card swaps by contacting the Card Office. No card swaps are currently scheduled.
The card replacement effort is taking place in stages across the University. Currently, all campus card readers have been reconfigured to work with the new cards, which is why cardholders are required to replace their cards. However, the only buildings that currently require the new ID cards to get are in Jordan Quad, Engineering Quad, 3145 and 3160 Porter Drive, the Graduate School of Business and the Stanford Research Computing Facility.
Contact Erin Woo at erinkwoo ‘at’ stanford.edu.