Consumers Reports investigation finds that the College Board is sharing students’ personal information with tech companies

New York, NY — Consumer Reports released findings from an investigation into the privacy practices of the College Board and found that the organization appears to be in violation of its own policies. 

Researchers at CR’s Digital Lab found that the College Board is sending personally identifiable student information to major technology companies and ad platforms including Adobe, Facebook, Google, Microsoft, Snapchat, and Yahoo.

“College-bound students don’t have any choice but to transact with the College Board—which is what makes these findings so concerning,” said Ben Moskowitz, Director of the Digital Lab at Consumer Reports. “Because of its mission and its importance in the college admissions process, it is critical that the organization meet a high privacy standard, communicate clearly with its users, and limit the user data it shares with third parties for advertising purposes.” 

The College Board is a non-profit company that owns and operates the SAT test. The organization also administers the Advanced Placement exam, which high school students can take to earn college credit and strengthen applications. In some states, the SAT is even required for high school graduation. For millions of students, the College Board is an unavoidable gatekeeper on the path to higher education.

After contacting the College Board with our findings, the organization made some updates to its site, but the underlying problem as found in the investigation remains. 

For more information about the Digital Lab visit: https://digital-lab.consumerreports.org/

Media contact: Cyrus Rassool, cyrus.rassool@consumer.org