<p>Story in today's paper about third party data accumulated and sold to colleges for recruitment purposes.</p>
<p>Seems to go far beyond the info sold by Collegeboard unless you check the privacy box.</p>
<p>Watch those surveys and bogus scholarship applications.</p>
<p>There was one group out there (I don't remember the name) that was making a deal with the school system to have surveys filled out. The actual survey didn't really give teachers or students any hint that the information would be sold.</p>
<p>These outfits aren't just marketing these lists to colleges. They're selling them to businesses that are looking to target your demographic group. Google “student direct mail” and you’ll see a number of companies offering student data to anyone who wants to buy it.</p>
<p>EDIT: I found the group I was talking about, American</a> Student List. Two interesting links:
Federal</a> Trade Commission complaint from 2003
A</a> blog entry about Gillete's use of the lists</p>
<p>Wow. American Student List is scary.</p>
<p>For those who don't want to wade through their website:</p>
<p>Write to:</p>
<p>American Student LIst
330 Old Country Road
Suite 300
Mineola, NY 11501
Attention: Data Acquisitions Manager</p>
<p>Tell them to take you off regular, bulk and e-mail as well as telemarketing solicitors.</p>
<p>This is not really data mining by college admissions offices (at least not the way I hear data mining used), nor are they "mining the backgrounds" of the "incoming class." The paper really used alarmist language there. </p>
<p>What they are describing isn't that new (at least from the College Board/ACT perspective, i.e. Student Search Service of the PSAT) and I don't think it's particularly scary. Colleges are buying names and addresses of potential prospects based on information those potential prospects provided a 3rd party about their interests. </p>
<p>It's a nuisance if it yields more mail from many colleges that you have no interest in, but it's not menacing. I mean, come on, it's scary to get an application from Rice? I understand concern about unknown parties assembling data about you and selling it to marketers (and colleges), but I think the Houston paper used some very strange language in their webpage header.</p>
<p>
[QUOTE]
This is not really data mining by college admissions offices (at least not the way I hear data mining used), nor are they "mining the backgrounds" of the "incoming class." The paper really used alarmist language there.
[/QUOTE]
Agreed.</p>
<p>Most colleges buy names from ETS/Student Search (all part of the SAT machine) after students fill out the demographic info on the inside of their score sheets. ETS, as far as I know, doesn't sell the information to businesses. </p>
<p>This group is sending surveys to the schools, under the guise of giving students access to colleges and scholarships, but the reality is that they operate like any other mailing list company and will sell information to businesses, magazines, credit card companies, etc. The process is outlined in the Federal Trade Commission document to which I linked.</p>