Privacy & Security Information

What are the security features in FAFSA4caster?

Your FAFSA4caster data is protected by encryption. Encryption uses a mathematical formula to scramble your data into a format that is unreadable by anyone who might intercept it. If your browser is configured correctly, encryption is done automatically when you connect to the FAFSA4caster Web site. Encryption strength is measured by the length of its "key", which is expressed in bits. The larger the key, the greater the strength of the encryption. For example, "international" versions of Netscape Navigator and Internet Explorer use 40-bit keys to encrypt data, while "domestic" versions of the same browsers use 56-bit or 128-bit keys. Consequently, the domestic versions of Netscape Navigator and Internet Explorer will offer your data stronger protection. In fact, data encrypted with a 128-bit key is approximately 309,485,009,821,345,068,724,781,056 times stronger than data encrypted with a 40-bit key. We recommend you use the domestic version of your preferred browser.

Also, it is not very likely that someone could intercept your data. As your data travels through the Internet it takes a random path through thousands of lines and computers that form the Internet. For your data to be intercepted, someone would have to guess what path your data was taking and also be able to decrypt or unscramble your data to read it.

This page uses information gathered from the Netscape and RSA Web sites.