OMG yes. I was on a call with the Collegeboard support agent trying to get SATs working. And I think they opted me in to their data sharing program with colleges because I never turned it on. I am extremely salty about this because Collegeboard is a terrible company and they shared all this data with 1000s of colleges without my consent. I was at least using an email alias, but it doesn’t fix the other stuff ofc.
I sent them an email with an ai trying to see what they could do. They said they were looking into it, but it has been weeks. I am pretty sure I don’t have legal action because my state doesn’t have a privacy law and I am not sure how much proof there is that an agent adjusted this setting.
Your Privacy Is Prioritized
We only share specific information about you, with your consent. We never share your actual test scores, grades, disability status, or phone number. Visit here for a full list of information about you shared with participating nonprofit organizations, if you opt in.
I find it additionally riduclus because they say on their site that it is opt in and they “care about your privacy”.
Anyway. Any advice would be appreciated or just compassion.
That sucks big time. College Board has always been a terrible company. I’m not an attorney and I need more time to review their privacy policy to give more sound advice. What you do next depends on how far you are willing to go.
You may have more rights than you think. Your state might have laws or protections for deceptive opt-in practices. I’d search that for your state. If College Board violated their own privacy policy you have rights under consumer protection laws. If your actual education records were shared you have rights under Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) and can file a claim with the U.S. Department of Education.
Decide how much work you want to do. Think about what you want to come out of this. Identify the harm they caused you. Create a log of every email, call times (and the phone numbers you called) and agents you spoke to, any relevant screenshots. Send a preservation of evidence demand letter to College Board first chance you get (email and certified mail requiring a signature) this discourages them from deleting call recordings. Separately request all of your call recordings, chats, customer relation management data, and list of institutions that received your data. Then file a complaint with the Better Business Bureau (BBB), Federal Trade Commission (FTC), and your state’s attorney general.
If you only want them to respond to you, a message to the Better Business Bureau (BBB) should do the trick.
This isn’t the same as what you are going through, but I remember emailing a legitimate company about violating compliance with the CAN-SPAM Act around a year or two ago. They kept sending me marketing emails even though i opted out of them. Either their unsubscribe button was broken or they weren’t respecting my opt out. Either way, it violated the act. This company wasn’t a shady, off-brand, small business. They were a large corporation and well known.
They responded to my email saying that they were going to send my complaint up the ladder to someone who could help me, but nothing came of it. I’m still waiting for a further response from them, and while I wait, I still receive marketing emails from them to this day because I still use their service.
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