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High School Student Data
Sold to Commercial Companies

WASHINGTON, Oct. 2, 2002 -- Companies accused of misusing information collected from millions of high school students have reached a settlement with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).

The companies claimed that the information they collected would be shared only with colleges, universities and others providing education-related services but in fact they also sold the information to commercial marketers.

National Research Center for College and University Admissions (NRCCUA), and its principal, Don M. Munce, based in Lee's Summit, Missouri, and American Student List (ASL), based in Mineola, New York, agreed under the settlement that they will not misuse existing data and will fully disclose how data will be used in the future.

"Students provided their personal information believing it would be shared only with colleges, universities, and others providing education-related services," said J. Howard Beales, III, Director of the FTC's Bureau of Consumer Protection. "In fact, the companies also sold students' detailed data to direct marketers, list brokers, and other commercial companies. The point is that companies must comply with their stated privacy policies or face the consequences. A privacy policy should shine light on a company's information practices, not obscure them."

According to the FTC complaint detailing the charges, NRCCUA, Munce, and ASL distributed surveys to high school teachers and guidance counselors with the request that they have their students complete the survey in school. The survey collected such information as name, address, gender, grade point average, date of birth, academic, and occupational interests, athletic and extracurricular interests, racial and ethnic background, and religious affiliation.

Materials provided to educators with the survey claimed that the service "is completely funded" by 850 college and university members, and that "NRCCUA is funded by its member colleges and universities for the purpose of distributing helpful educationally-related literature to students." The materials also claimed that the colleges and universities "use the NRCCUA survey to contact . . . students whose interests and abilities match the institution's offerings. By completing this survey now, your students will receive the information they need to help them make an informed college choice."

The privacy statement on the survey claimed that students' data "is used by colleges, universities and other organizations to assist students and their families by providing them with valuable information."

In fact, the respondents not only provided the information to colleges and universities, but also sold the information to commercial marketers. In addition, the survey is not funded solely by educational institutions, but also receives substantial funding from ASL and other commercial entities.

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