Chicago Business Litigation Lawyer Blog
Many people have become wary of online forms asking for personal information since many of them prove to be opportunities for dishonest people and institutions to use and share that information for their own purposes. But there are institutions most of us assume to be trustworthy, and for most people, that would include the College Board, the same institution that develops and administers the SAT and ACT exams. According to a new lawsuit, the College Board allegedly collected and sold students’ personal information, including their names, addresses, gender, ethnicity, grades, and citizenship status.
According to a new lawsuit, which has been filed on behalf of the parent of a student of Chicago Public Schools, the College Board allegedly collected this information using a Student Search Survey. The College Board denies having done anything wrong, saying that the survey was optional and free for students to fill out. Legislators say the College Board did ask for students’ consent to distribute their information to colleges, universities, and scholarship providers, but did not mention that the information would be sold to those third parties – that the College Board was profiting off students’ personal information.
The lawsuit alleges that the College Board collected between 42¢ and 47¢ for each student name they sold to other organizations.
The lawsuit further alleges that, after obtaining students’ personal information, the College Board offered the students’ identifying information (including their names and addresses) for sale to third parties in order to promote Student Search Service, the survey they used to collect students’ information. Continue reading ›