New keyless locks record student data

While the University does not monitor this data, the Department of Public Safety is able to access it in case of emergencies. University Spokesperson Martin Mbugua declined to explain what constitutes an emergency or to describe the exact chain of events that would give Public Safety permission to access this data.

The locks are also capable of recording whether the doors are open or closed, but the University is not currently recording this information.

The data is stored by the OIT Data Center in a “highly secured data center,” Mbugua said. The new locks, called XS4 and made by Spanish security company SALTO Systems, include a double validation system that allows for the use of an HID iClass card — such as the PUID cards — together with a PIN.

“If needed, we know when a card is used and where it is used. Our in-house technicians have been trained on this new system, which also makes better use of their time by not having to chase down a master key. It’s all right there in the University’s database,” Life Safety and Security Administrator Keith Tuccillo told the website security-today.com.

Tuccillo, who is administrating the new keyless lock program, deferred comment to Mbugua when contacted by The Daily Princetonian.

Mbugua explained that the stored data is protected under the University’s Information Security policy. Tuccillo, as the system administrator, has access to the data.

“It is a function in Site Protection to have an administrator for the system,” Mbugua said.

A SALTO employee declined to disclose the price of the individual XS4 lock and deferred comment to the Hogan Security Group, the company that installed the locks over the summer. A Hogan representative was not available early Thursday, but a receptionist said the representative would return the call. The call was not returned as of Thursday evening.

Mbugua declined to disclose the cost of the project or the cost of an individual lock. He only said the money for the project came from the “budget for maintenance and upgrades.”

The XS4 locks are a new model and are currently heavily advertised by SALTO on their home page. The dual validation lock, however, was designed specifically for Princeton, though the model with the keypad is now commercially available.

“The model was already part of the model line,” Mbugua said. “However, to meet the Housing department requirements, the keypad was added specifically for Princeton.”

The locks are under a three-year warranty administered by Hogan. In late July, a Hogan employee was arrested for allegedly stealing female underwear and jewelry from rooms in 1903 Hall. He was then fired from the company.

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The total number of lockouts do not seem to have spiked with the new system. Between Aug. 31 and Sept. 25, Public Safety responded to 640 lockouts with a combination of loaner cards and officer dispatches, while the Housing Office issued 271 loaner cards to students who had been locked out, Mbugua said.

Between Sept. 2 and Sept. 25, 2011, Public Safety responsed to 1,145 lockouts, all with officer dispatches.

About 2 percent of the 3,300 new keyless lock batteries have already had to be replaced. These locks use a standard AA battery. Mbugua said it was an “unlikely scenario” that at some point in the following months, the AA batteries would die all at the same time, because the installation of the locks had been done in stages over a period of months.

David Huang ’15 said that his batteries have had to be replaced twice already. The first time, he had to get a loaner card from Housing, and only after this card did not work was the battery replaced. The second time, however, Housing was able to remotely check the status of his battery.

“The locks are repaired directly by University staff who are certified, factory-trained personnel,” Mbugua said. “[The repair people are] from the University’s site protection staff, who work closely with a certified integrator.” The integrator is Hogan Security Group.