Of course they are running analytics on any data they might get…that is what I now do for a living—anslyze data, prepare drip campaigns etc. perhaps that is why I am not outraged. Predictive analytics are used in many ways every day. But I don’t begrudge the scrutiny. I am firmly on the side of organizations telling people what they are doing with their info and giving them an option to opt out and I am for the allowing scrutiny of where and how their data is being used.
@momofthreeboys If you were aware of how the analytics were being used, why did you assert:
“I don’t know if colleges discriminate or not based on disabilities but if they do then why would any parent want their kid at that college?”
Clearly using the analytics can yield a discriminatory result even if the college is not choosing to conduct its admission process in this way. Not all colleges would look under the hood at the statistical model, even if they could. I don’t understand why you would make it sound like this data is perfectly innocent unless a college intentionally wanted to discriminate, when in fact you knew all along that this was how data was used.
Furthermore, if you read the class action, it is clear that there was no consent to use the data in this way, and that the students filling out the survey were minors.
“giving them an option to opt out and I am for the allowing scrutiny of where and how their data is being used.”
That’s not how it should work, the default should be to opt out and they have to manually make the choice to opt in. If the default is opt-in and they have to manually opt out, that is very bad, if not illegal privacy policy. And shame on ACT for doing that, pimping (if I may) themselves to colleges like that.
“I would be horrified if some job site somehow linked me to another survey I took, and sent out to potential clients/employers that I was a person with a disability. It is not their right to know that.”
It’s different between colleges and employers regarding disabilities. This thread was started because people were concerned that colleges would use the information against the applicant, since well, I don’t know, they’re colleges and have ulterior motives. 
Employers, HR depts added the disability question to make sure that the disability is not used against the candidate and of course you can say “no” to the question or “don’t wish to answer”.
@theloniusmonk It was suggested on one of the articles about the class action suit that ACT may share their identifiable student data with potential employers.
You mean potential colleges right? The issue is that a third party broker is doing the survey analysis and sending it to colleges. At any rate, every survey taken has to have an opt-in or opt-out question regardless of who’s administering it and the default should be to opt-out, which I don’t think is happening this case. Also good surveys tell you what is being shared, they might say, we’re sharing information about your feedback on the product but not anything that would reveal who you are (age, gender, income level, zip code etc.). The ACT survey is misleading in that respect as well, it looks like.
@theloniusmonk Many colleges buy this data and run it through their own predictive models to make admission decisions. Factors a college might be interested in modeling/analyzing include whether the student is likely to attend if offered admission (yield) or likely to graduate.
Many organizations beyond ACT and Collegeboard sell student data, aggregated from many sources. For example, every time your student creates an account at one of the college informational sites, this data is at risk of being sold. NRCCUA was one of the largest purveyors selling student level data to colleges, but it was recently bought by ACT. This infers that NRCCUA has data beyond what ACT has and/or superior analytic software/methods.
Are the disabilities or accommodations indentified?
It could be aggregated data with non identifiable information. That would be of interest to a college as there is a finite number of students a disability office can support. Rising percentages of students from a region or with a particular college requiring services would potentially be an actionable item for a college. But it is all speculative.
@compmom The student is asked what type of disability he or she has (e.g. physical disability, learning disability, etc)
Here is what ACT says about Privacy/Confidentiality
https://www.act.org/content/dam/act/unsecured/docu…%20for%20Documentation-Web.pdf (see final page)
“ACT Score Reports do not include any specifics about the disability or accommodations provided.”
It does not say that they do not include whether a student has a disability or whether ANY accommodations were provided.
This is what the ACT score reports look like https://www.act.org/content/dam/act/unsecured/documents/2017-18-College-Rpt-sample-data.pdf
@WDCMom it was posted above. I had asked a question on how in the world would the ACT know what specific college was your 1st choice - you do not answer a question about any specific colleges??? See post #30.
Does anybody know how the ACT comes up with “Information Reported by the Student
College Choice and College Code.” On the sample it shows the College Code and Choice as 1st. How do they know what the #1 college choice is? I do not see this on any questions asked by the ACT. I see location, size, preference of type of college. Does anyone know?
^When you add a score report, ACT’s registration site asks you to set the priority for each school. The level of priority gets reported as “Choice” on the report to the school. (Trying to edit to credit Compass Prep website but can’t post with the url apparently.) Do a web search for 'Compass Prep What Your ACT Score Report Looks Like to Colleges"
@2mrmagoo thank you! But what do you mean when you say “add a score report”? We have only ever sent score reports AFTER we got the scores back and then were in the process of applying. So we paid for each individual report to each college. I am assuming you mean that when one does the FREE reporting to colleges upon ACT registration BEFORE one has even taken the test. Thank you for any clarification.
@2mrmagoo I read the article and see it is only IF you add a score report BEFORE you take the exam (then you rank your choices). That does not apply to my kids situation. We would never send a report to a college until after my kid took the test and saw their score first. Thank you for the above idea to google Compass Prep!
Yes, that’s exactly right. My understanding is that the free reports are listed in order of priority and this is what is reported as ‘choice’ on the report. The reports ordered and sent after the scores are released would only have notations for which state one preferred, or size of college etc (those questions listed in the profile).
I did call the ACT today to get some additional information. The student profile filled out by the student on the test date ‘trumps’ the profile filled out when registering. So, if mom or dad helps the student register (and select what to say on the profile) and then the student answers differently to these questions on the testing date, the student’s second answers will be reported.
I also verified that I can alter the student profile online now and the reports sent after amending them should reflect the changes. I could not get 100% confirmation on that and after an hour on hold for waiting for an answer (and a very nice customer service person trying their best to get an answer) we were disconnected. Ugh. I’m going to try again tomorrow. I intend to ask to see a copy of my DS’s report that will be sent to colleges before it is sent.
However, if the ACT is selling this information likely colleges already have his student profile that was filled out in June when he took the test, so does it really matter what is on the actual report? What a mess.
@2mrmagoo if it helps I looked back at what my one kid put as I can still get in her profile. She had listed Massachusetts and then California as her #1 and #2 location preferences. What I can tell you is that she got into most all of her colleges (very selective ones too) all over the US, and is not even at school in Mass or CA. Once I saw that, I decided it is nothing to worry about for child #2. I looked at his profile and what was answered online and I believe that he probably answered very similarly on the real test day. I am not giving it a second thought anymore. I highly doubt that the kid answers all of the questions again on test day…although I believe that there are some, including the disability questions. If they had to answer the entire profile questions/interest questions again on actual test day, that would take too much time!
@2mrmagoo I was told by ACT that deleting information from the profile after the test was taken doesn’t resolve the issue – the revised profile would only be sent with any new test scores your child may get. So if your kid, like mine, filled out the survey honestly and completely for the June 2018 exam, if they send the 2018 scores anywhere that’s the report that will go with it.