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Carl T. Bergstrom

So this is crazy fcuked.

Despite their denial, Gizmodo caught the College Board (who administer the SAT, etc.) sharing scores and GPAs with Facebook, TikTok, etc.

gizmodo.com/sat-college-board-

27 comments
PeoriaBummer

@ct_bergstrom โ€œThose values are passed in the pixel, not because we configured the pixel that way but because thatโ€™s how the pixel works.โ€

What the hell does this even mean?

matchu

@PeoriaBummer @ct_bergstrom My read is that it sounds like the tracking pixel grabs the URL, and the search filters you selected are included in the URL, rather than them intentionally sending it as structured data.

So like, Iโ€™m guessing College Board literally did not realize they were sending this kind of sensitive data to Facebook etcโ€”which is a very common level of negligence with web trackers ime and is part of why itโ€™s always gross to use them ๐Ÿ™ƒโ—๏ธ

Edtech is so wildly rife with recklessness about PII, itโ€™s so scary

@PeoriaBummer @ct_bergstrom My read is that it sounds like the tracking pixel grabs the URL, and the search filters you selected are included in the URL, rather than them intentionally sending it as structured data.

So like, Iโ€™m guessing College Board literally did not realize they were sending this kind of sensitive data to Facebook etcโ€”which is a very common level of negligence with web trackers ime and is part of why itโ€™s always gross to use them ๐Ÿ™ƒโ—๏ธ

Catherine Berry

@PeoriaBummer @ct_bergstrom

Clearly, they mean that the pixel gained sentience, went rogue, and decided to share this information for its own nefarious purposes. All web developers know that when their sites are caught sharing personal information, a rogue sentient pixel is nearly always to blame.

wakame

@isomeme @PeoriaBummer @ct_bergstrom

Last century: "The dog ate my homework."
This century: "An AI program ate my homework."

Frank Bennett

@isomeme @PeoriaBummer @ct_bergstrom "I was just STANDING there ... and it BROKE!" ๐Ÿ‘ฆ

Alexey Merz

@PeoriaBummer @ct_bergstrom It means that the College Board should be sued into dust.

Chris Green

@ct_bergstrom this sounds like an unintended http referrer leak is my guess

Cecilia Mjausson Huster

@cmgreen @ct_bergstrom Given the College Board's history, assuming it's unintended is too charitable.

xek

@mjausson @cmgreen @ct_bergstrom If I had to guess, it's unintended, and they're going to fix it: you can't give away data that valuable for free!

Nilsk

@ct_bergstrom Isnโ€™t this the kind of thing people should be sent to prison for? I see no excuse for this behaviour.

Gdac

@ct_bergstrom can you share why that happens, what it looks like on the receiving end and what consequence to the student?

zentec

@ct_bergstrom

These people are acting as unregulated credit and social score agencies. Enough is enough

Fred C. Trump (dead/deceased)

@ct_bergstrom Someone needs to legislate that institution out of existence.

VoltaicGRiD

@ct_bergstrom
I can't be the only one that has always thought that College Board was sketchy from the beginning.

I remember sitting in classes in Highschool and Middleshool, doing tasks and signing up for things with the entire class through College Board.

9/10 times the site was laggy, and crashed
Even back then, the site looked outdated
Their blog looks "fake" and filled with "overly-optimistic" posts that just feel sketchy.

Anyone else?

@ct_bergstrom
I can't be the only one that has always thought that College Board was sketchy from the beginning.

I remember sitting in classes in Highschool and Middleshool, doing tasks and signing up for things with the entire class through College Board.

9/10 times the site was laggy, and crashed
Even back then, the site looked outdated
Their blog looks "fake" and filled with "overly-optimistic" posts that just feel sketchy.

๐ƒ๐ซ. ๐•ต๐–Ž๐–‡๐–—๐–Š๐–Š๐–‘L โ‚ฒโฑซโ‚ฎ ๐ŸŒ

@VoltaicGRiD @ct_bergstrom the site is so shit, I was worried Id gotten scammed until I actually physically got my SAT questions handed to me in the exam hall.

Adam Gessaman :vcoffee:

@ct_bergstrom Iโ€™ve been advocating for my small school district to abandon AP classes in favor of dual enrollment for a combination of pedagogical, ethical, and technological reasons. This might be the last straw.

ricchi

@ct_bergstrom Ohhh, THOOOSSSE test scores??? Yeah, we totally sent those.

Infoseepage #StopGazaGenocide

@ct_bergstrom Some pretty crazily specific wording in their denial ""we do not share with X, Y and Z or anyone else using pixel (sp?) or cookies."

This immediately implies that they do share via some other mechanism...and then they get caught sharing using the mechanism they denied to begin with....

protozyn

@ct_bergstrom that's absolutely wild.

Isn't it a crime to do this, especially when it would involve minors, especially with data privacy since you would have to acknowledge you consent to having data shared with third parties?

Ezlin Rye

@ct_bergstrom

Yo that's fucked up.

"We don't do the thing."

"Here's video evidence of you doing the thing."

"Oh we're caught? lol yeah we do the thing."

We need the GDPR so bad in the U.S. it's just silly.

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