PRIVACY WARNING TO PARENTS WHOSE KIDS WILL BE TAKING THE ACT OR COLLEGE BOARD (PSAT, SAT, AP) EXAMS
Both ACT and College Board sell personal student data to colleges and universities, as well as to other non-profit and for-profit organizations to help them recruit students and/or market their products and services.
The College Board makes an approximate $100 million per year from its “Student Search” program, for which it charges organizations 47 cents per student name. [1] Last year, ACT was sued via a class action lawsuit, because they allegedly included student disability information in the data they sold to customers.[2]
If your child is taking a College Board exam, and you don’t want any of their personal data sold, which may include their race, ethnicity, self-reported grades, religion and/or test scores within a certain range, as well as other confidential information, urge them NOT to fill out any of the optional questions that are included online or in the Student Questionnaire given before the administration of the exam. They should also be sure not to check the box that indicates they want to participate in the College Board “Student Search” program.
If your child is taking the ACT, you and your child should also refrain from filling out any of the extraneous information requested in the ACT Student Profile Section, unless you want that data also sold and/or used for marketing purposes.
In May 2018, the US Department of Education’s Privacy Technical CONTINUE READING: Privacy warning to parents whose kids will be taking the ACT or College Board (PSAT, SAT, AP) exams | Parent Coalition for Student Privacy