Student Defense and Accountable Tech file Freedom of Information Act complaint against U.S. Department of Education
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July 29, 2024
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Student Defense and Accountable Tech file Freedom of Information Act complaint against U.S. Department of Education
The complaint comes after media reports surfaced that the Department shared students’ personal information with Facebook without consent
Student Defense and Accountable Tech filed a complaint today against the U.S. Department of Education following the Department’s failure to respond to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request for documents related to media reports the Department released personally identifiable information from an unknown number of federal aid applicants to Facebook.
On April 28, 2022, The Markup reported that the Office of Federal Student Aid (FSA) used a string of website programming code, known as the Facebook Pixel, to collect student data and then sent that information to Facebook. In response, Student Defense and Accountable Tech sent a letter to the House Oversight Committee requesting a full investigation. The groups also submitted a FOIA request to the Department seeking to understand the reasons behind the privacy breach and the full extent of the breach.
“What data was exposed and how are we protecting students from being targeted by predatory companies going forward? We need those answers from the Department of Education,” said Student Defense Litigation Director Eric Rothschild. “Students apply for FAFSA to get much-needed aid, not to have their data used by for-profit colleges to mislead and manipulate them into applying through false advertising. We demand full disclosure about this data breach and decisive action from the government to prevent it from ever happening again.”
“Financial aid applications contain deeply personal information. It’s unconscionable to think that the federal government would share this information with Facebook, only for it to be taken advantage of by for-profit colleges that have a history of micro-targeting students with predatory ad campaigns,” said Nicole Gill, Co-Founder and Executive Director of Accountable Tech. “It’s not a surprise that Facebook’s surveillance advertising machinery is seizing the opportunity to profit from students’ personal data. What is surprising is that the Department of Education would be complicit. We still need answers.”
As of the date of this filing, Student Defense and Accountable Tech’s April 2022 FOIA request remains in “currently under processing review” status on the Department’s website for tracking FOIA requests.