{"id":1425,"date":"2026-03-27T09:55:00","date_gmt":"2026-03-27T09:55:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stuorgs2.gcc.edu\/thecollegian\/2026\/03\/27\/2026-03-27-security-and-student-needs-can-be-balanced\/"},"modified":"2026-10-06T23:10:36","modified_gmt":"2026-10-06T23:10:36","slug":"2026-03-27-security-and-student-needs-can-be-balanced","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stuorgs2.gcc.edu\/thecollegian\/2026\/03\/27\/2026-03-27-security-and-student-needs-can-be-balanced\/","title":{"rendered":"Security and student needs can be\u00a0balanced"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By Sam Mayfield<\/a> · Contributing Writer<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The college\u2019s decision to move from Prox ID technology to NFC was wise, but physical cards should still be the default.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As I have discussed our college\u2019s move to digital IDs with my Grove family, there was one argument that I kept mulling over: why the move at all? As the old saying goes, \u201cIf it ain\u2019t broke, don\u2019t fix it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For many Grovers, the move to digital IDs didn\u2019t make any sense. We as the student body haven\u2019t experienced any trouble with our IDs, other than the fact that having a good ID photo is rarer than winning the lottery (looking at you, Julia Sikora!).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Was the entire move a waste? Not at all. The current prox cards can be copied easily, which \u2014 although convenient \u2014 poses a risk to the security provided by the scanners and authentication technology.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

NFC cards operate (scan) at a much shorter distance, which makes it harder for a passerby to swipe the card information. Additionally, the newer Crimson Card+ will be significantly harder to copy, even if an adversary has access to the card, which further increases security.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While this prevents students from copying their card to additional fobs or patches of their choosing, it also prevents your ID from being copied by the stranger next to you in the Chick-Fil-A line.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The security of our buildings cannot be overlooked, and while I have become aware of many flaws regarding door locks in the past week (which do need to be addressed), I hesitate to throw the baby out with the bathwater. Security is not an all-or-nothing decision, and this move will increase security in an important way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But the move to NFC could still be improved. The truth is, if the change had been that students had to turn in their old ID card and get a new NFC-enabled card before Oct. 5, there would have been very little pushback. A minor inconvenience? Sure. But almost no change to campus life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Certain scanners do take longer to accept your card now, this is true, but that is likely a scanner hardware issue that could be ironed out in the future (the scanners on the printers are almost instant, in my experience). A physical NFC card would be almost indistinguishable from the current prox cards but significantly more secure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While a physical card would leave the possibility open for students to give their ID to someone else (not quite as easy with your phone) \u2014 which I acknowledge is a security concern for the school \u2014 when compared to requiring students to always have their phone on them, I find the physical option significantly better for the student population overall.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As I type this, I have had to unplug my phone from charging and bring it with me whenever I leave the (locked) room I am working in. Not much of a bother when your phone is charging, but what about transferring data? Or what if your phone is connected to a speaker at a party, and you want to quickly go grab some Garage? Neither would be possible with digital IDs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is also something nice about being able to disconnect from your phone, a mental clarity that comes with leaving it behind. While I appreciate how many applications and functions our mobile devices can fulfill these days, there is still something to be said about having an object designated for one, specific task.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I am very thankful for all the work Dr. DiStasi has done to make the move seamless and for being so willing to hear student feedback. I would just humbly encourage the school to make physical NFC cards the norm for existing and new students, so that we can leave our phones behind when we need to but still enjoy a safer and more secure campus.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The college\u2019s decision to move from Prox ID technology to NFC was wise, but physical cards should still be the default. As I have discussed our college\u2019s move to digital IDs with<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[215],"tags":[16,52,92],"class_list":["post-1425","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-opinions","tag-editorial-perspectives","tag-issue-2026-03-27","tag-sam-mayfield"],"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":false,"thumbnail":false,"medium":false,"medium_large":false,"large":false,"1536x1536":false,"2048x2048":false},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"Ian Schartner","author_link":"https:\/\/stuorgs2.gcc.edu\/thecollegian\/author\/schartnerij23\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"The college\u2019s decision to move from Prox ID technology to NFC was wise, but physical cards should still be the default. As I have discussed our college\u2019s move to digital IDs with","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stuorgs2.gcc.edu\/thecollegian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1425","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stuorgs2.gcc.edu\/thecollegian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stuorgs2.gcc.edu\/thecollegian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stuorgs2.gcc.edu\/thecollegian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stuorgs2.gcc.edu\/thecollegian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1425"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/stuorgs2.gcc.edu\/thecollegian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1425\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1664,"href":"https:\/\/stuorgs2.gcc.edu\/thecollegian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1425\/revisions\/1664"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stuorgs2.gcc.edu\/thecollegian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1425"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stuorgs2.gcc.edu\/thecollegian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1425"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stuorgs2.gcc.edu\/thecollegian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1425"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}