Stories
Slash Boxes
Comments

SoylentNews is people

posted by Fnord666 on Wednesday August 15 2018, @12:21AM   Printer-friendly
from the just-getting-to-know-you dept.

Submitted via IRC for SoyCow1984

Students are suing a major college admissions test maker for allegedly selling information about their disability statuses with universities, which they say could hurt their chances at getting into schools and impact the rest of their lives.

When students register to take the ACT—a standardized test used for college admissions taken by more than a million high schoolers each year—they answer a barrage of personal questions. As part of this, they are asked to note if they have disabilities that require "special provisions from the educational institution."

The ACT, which is administered by ACT, Inc., is the only real competitor to the College Board's SAT exam. The lawsuit claims that the ACT is selling the data it gleans from those student questionnaires—connected directly to students' individual identities—to colleges, which then use it to make important decisions about admissions and financial aid.

"A lot of students and parents have no idea how these testing agencies, which are gatekeepers to college, are using very sensitive and confidential data in the college admissions process," Jesse Creed, one of the plaintiffs' lawyers, told me in a phone call. "[Colleges are] hungry for disability data, because they have limited resources, and it's expensive to educate people with disabilities."

Source: https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/43pbep/lawsuit-claims-the-act-sells-students-disability-data-to-colleges


Original Submission

 
This discussion has been archived. No new comments can be posted.
Display Options Threshold/Breakthrough Mark All as Read Mark All as Unread
The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way.
  • (Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday August 15 2018, @12:59AM (5 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday August 15 2018, @12:59AM (#721626)

    There has been an explosion of "disability". Most of this is fake. For tests, it gets people more time and food. Hey, I want that too! Be fair now. Can I haz disable? Outside college admissions, it has become the new welfare. Lots of people (my brother even -- this shit is real) are claiming disability to get money out of the VA and Social Security. It's mostly easy-to-fake stuff, using doctors that are eager to sign off on it.

    On the other hand, there exists real disability. This does not mean that they should be everywhere. This costs society dearly. No matter who does the paying, that money is wasted and generally hurts all of us. (higher prices, higher taxes, slower service, businesses tipped over the edge into being non-viable, etc.) These days, you can go to the surf shop and find a special parking space. Just... NO. There is even a person flying passenger jets with a missing arm, which we know about because an FAA incident report mentions that it fell off while he was operating the plane.

    Some people... I'm sorry, but society needs you to sit at home. Well that, or we could go all Hitler, which would be even better for our economy but some people take issue with that.

    Lifetime earnings for some of these people will never earn back the money spent to accommodate them.

    That's the legit ones though. Most of these test takers just wanted extra time. Essentially, they cheated.

    Starting Score:    0  points
    Moderation   -1  
       Troll=1, Total=1
    Extra 'Troll' Modifier   0  

    Total Score:   -1  
  • (Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday August 15 2018, @02:39AM (2 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday August 15 2018, @02:39AM (#721644)

    Are you so stupid you cannot figure out that this is because the elites keep tightening the screws on the working class, who are collectively capable of doing something about it but too lazy to.

    There is your proof that the working class is lazy. Every. Single. Fucking. Number continues to show that those dipshits are being robbed blind with massive wealth transfer to the wealthy 1%. And they do nothing. Nothing at all.

    Dumb fucks or cows. Take your pick.

    • (Score: 2) by SanityCheck on Wednesday August 15 2018, @10:24AM (1 child)

      by SanityCheck (5190) on Wednesday August 15 2018, @10:24AM (#721731)

      Sure, Comrade. Revolution when?

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday August 15 2018, @05:56PM

        by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday August 15 2018, @05:56PM (#721865)

        The revolution won't.

  • (Score: 2) by EvilSS on Wednesday August 15 2018, @03:06PM (1 child)

    by EvilSS (1456) Subscriber Badge on Wednesday August 15 2018, @03:06PM (#721807)

    There is even a person flying passenger jets with a missing arm, which we know about because an FAA incident report mentions that it fell off while he was operating the plane.

    Wait, a pilot's biological arm just fell off while flying a plane, and now it's missing? Did it just roll under the seat and no one can find it? How is it Sully gets a movie but not this guy!?

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday August 15 2018, @05:41PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday August 15 2018, @05:41PM (#721859)

      Heh, no, it was an obviously ill-fitted prosthetic.