Princeton University has said recently that some of the people who used its computers to gain access to a Yale University admissions Web site were not employees of the university, but in fact students.
Four Princeton students entered the Web site, according to Marilyn Marks, media relations director at Princeton.
Two of these Princeton students who entered the Web site had siblings who applied to both Princeton and Yale, according to Princeton, in spite of an announcement on the site warning that nobody except applicants themselves was authorized to use it.
One other person who accessed the site from Princeton's computers was a student who had applied to both Yale and Princeton and was visiting the Princeton admissions office that day.
Shirley Tilghman, Princeton's president, also released her first official statement.
"Basic ethical principles of privacy and confidentiality are at stake here," Tilghman said in an E-mail message to the Princeton community.
"We teach these principles and we hold our students, faculty and staff to them. Violations of these principles therefore must not, and will not, be tolerated," she continued.
Tilghman also said that Princeton was planning to contact those students whose admissions decisions were obtained by Princeton's admissions officers to apologize to them.
She added that Princeton had also apologized to Yale's admissions officials for using their Web site in an unauthorized way.
The Yale Daily News first broke the story on July 25 that Princeton admissions had hacked into a Yale Web site which told applicants whether or not they had been accepted at Yale.
Computers at Princeton found out admissions information regarding 14 applicants to both schools, including information regarding Lauren Bush, the current president's niece.
The Associated Press contributed to this article.
