<p>To tomdadon: I sincerely hope ACT agrees with you. However they might not use the dictionary definition as a carte blanche for early intrusion into their site.</p>
<p>ethics? where is there cheating involved here? there is no unfair advantage here, there is no benefit, there is no altering of scores. </p>
<p>the same thing was going on with the SAT. and you know what they did? they found the problem, fixed it, and there were no repercussions. the only difference was that collegeboard was smart enough to find this glitch and fix themselves without having some parent call them as if trying to get the kids punished for what they did.</p>
<p>this "hack" has been around for multiple testings
are any of the people using the "hack" using it to alter their scores? NO
all this "hack" is is the url to the actual web page that will be released shortly...its not any sort of hidden coding or anything...ACT just hasn't posted the link to that particular page yet...therefore it's nothing they don't want any of the testtakers to know</p>
<p>and if you did call them...and if they do follow up and reprimand any of the students then i hope you feel guilty...no snitches allowed</p>
<p>On Tuesday, June 24th, my daughter had an anxiety attack. She had been fretting about her ACT scores constantly since the June test date, and I guess she just couldn't take it anymore. I took her to the hospital - during the attack she fell down a flight of stairs, breaking her left tibia. I'm back home now, and after reading this thread I am thoroughly disgusted with the employees of ACT Inc. My daughter was told scores would be first available on June 25th. This was a blatant lie. Scores were in fact available on the 23rd - TWO DAYS EARLIER. If my daughter or I had known this, her injury could have been prevented. Dear Husband and I are considering suing ACT Inc. for the lie that led to our daughter's hospital visit.</p>
<p>Students 'hacked' college Board's site last year and got their scores early. CB plugged the hole eventually. 'Hacking' ACT scores has been going on for a while since at least Feb. I agree with a couple of posters that it is not illegal technically speaking.Believe it or not,I think the ACT people knew about it long ago.Why they let kids do it I don't know,maybe they want the attention as they compete with the SAT. Please read what computer experts think of the ACT HACK:Glitch</a> Lets Students View ACT Scores Early | PC Fastlane</p>
<p>The point is an institution like ACT can decide itself what is fair. The lesson adults are making is --be careful. Just because it is do-able doesn't make it right. And an institution can choose to do whatever it wants, whenever it wants. </p>
<p>Warnings were given to HELP students stay in a safe zone.</p>
<p>Hopefully BP is right about ACT folks.</p>
<p>After looking into this a bit more it seems the error is even more on the ACT folks. </p>
<p>It turns out that you can pay extra money to get your scores early (they score them all about the same time, but the ACT holds your scores hostage for a while unless you give them some extra $$$ to let you take an early peek). These students have simply noticed that they can see their scores early without paying $$$ because the ACT incorrectly programmed their software. They didn't get 'unfair' early access to their scores that others didn't have access to, they simply realized that the ACTs glitch meant they could see their scores early without paying additional $$. </p>
<p>There was no hacking here. Although I agree there are still some ethical considerations, this is nothing too serious and I can't say I'm exactly shedding a tear that the ACT may have lost out on some profit because they were unable to scam families into paying extra money to take a peek early.</p>
<p>At the risk of overgeneralizing, this is what's wrong with today's parental population.</p>
<p>They think they know what is best, even in cases where they clearly do not. Anyone with an even modest knowledge of the internet would know that
1. this is not a hack, it is a glitch.
2. because this does not modify the system in anyway, IT IS NOT TRACEABLE, so even if ACT, Inc. were to find this act to be unlawful, they'd be able to do nothing about it.</p>
<p>Before you spew your ethics garbage about how just because you're not getting caught, doesn't mean it's not cheating, I just added the last part to calm anyone who may have already performed this "hack" and assure them that they will not be held accountable for anything.</p>
<p>Regardless, there is nothing wrong with doing this. As "kakaolo99" has just demonstrated, this feat has been well-known for some time now, and ACT, Inc. has chosen to do nothing about it. </p>
<p>Parents: go do your work. Go clean the house. Go worry about your child's future in a PRODUCTIVE manner. </p>
<p>Thank you.</p>
<p>How funny! There it is right out there in cyber info! I had just googled ACT glitch/hack and there it was! And a shout out to CC! ACT had to have known about this for a while.</p>
<p>rocketman08, what you have said is incorrect.</p>
<p>The policy of making students pay $8 early for early scores was abolished.</p>
<p>
[quote]
2. because this does not modify the system in anyway, IT IS NOT TRACEABLE, so even if ACT, Inc. were to find this act to be unlawful, they'd be able to do nothing about it.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Oh dear. The http GET requests described in the other forum are most definitely logged, complete with registration number. It would take an admin 5 seconds to generate a list of all the registration #'s that tried this.</p>
<p>I'm sure that is exactly the self-justification the Harvard Business School students employed. Fortunately Harvard had some respect for " garbage ethics" and has sent those with habits of slippery ethics on their way. </p>
<p>Student tomadon: rather than using your time to game the system, go clean your room, learn to do your own laundry, get a job and pay your own tuition so we don't have to work (and sneak on to CC while at the office/ lab/ surgical theatre.)</p>
<p>fauve: </p>
<p>My room is clean. My laundry is done. I have ample money to support myself. And I am gaming no system.</p>
<p>To start with, you assume I performed the so-called "hack."
Next, you assume I am a student.
Finally, you assume that your ridiculous parenting in anyway resembles mine.</p>
<p>I think it is you that has some work to do. Worry more about your own children's future. If you don't want your children doing this, don't let them. But don't create trouble where it doesn't exist for others.</p>
<p>parent fauve: </p>
<p>there is no comparison.</p>
<p>I completely agree with tomadon on this issue.</p>
<p>This is NOT hacking. It is NOT cracking. It is NOT illegal or unethical. There is no question about the legality of the actions performed by these students.</p>
<p>Well said ....Tomdadon</p>
<p>I feel sorry for the children of the parent who said they called ACT to report students looking for their test scores.</p>
<p>Why__ I think we should now notify the Department of Children's Services and maybe they will move in and rescue those kids and move them to a good foster home or somewhere. :-)</p>
<p>Good. If you read my original post it was a WARNING that another poster had supposedly telephoned ACT to stir up trouble.</p>
<p>Some of us care about the futures of these students and would not like to see futures compromised IF it was unethical. That is the point. The message was simply THINK (and research) before you act. </p>
<p>tomadon: glad to hear you have 200K plus banked for your future, and are tidy, laundry skilled, and living independently of your parents! Can we clone you?</p>
<p>
[quote]
They didn't get 'unfair' early access to their scores that others didn't have access to, they simply realized that the ACTs glitch meant they could see their scores early without paying additional $$.
[/quote]
Gee, back in the dark ages when I was young (and later in law school), getting access to something without paying the money for it was called theft.</p>
<p>
[quote]
The policy of making students pay $8 early for early scores was abolished.
[/quote]
I stand corrected on that point then, then this article is incorrect too: Glitch</a> Lets Students View ACT Scores Early | PC Fastlane</p>
<p>For those saying that this couldn't be traced, it certainly good... assuming they have a competent IT department (although after this screwup I suppose that's in doubt) their server should log every single request so it shouldn't be too hard to generate a list of scores that were requested in this manner. I don't really condone such activity regarding snooping around on the ACT website... However, I don't really think the ACT is in much of a position to really do anything about it given that:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>They accidentally posted the information in a pubic portion of the internet accessible by anyone that types in the correct URL.</p></li>
<li><p>Accessing information that a company places on the public internet by simply typing in a URL is most certainly not illegal. That sort of thing happens all the time when someone in IT screws up and posts some confidential document in a publically accessible location. If someone comes across it then there's not much the company can do to keep that information private (unless it contains legally protected private details such as an individual's medical records).</p></li>
</ul>
<p>you can't pay to see your scores early anymore. there was no STEALING involved. thanks for telling us you went to law school though.</p>