Unknown Data Collection In Colleges

What companies are collecting data?

What is student data being used for?

How are these companies collecting data?

Data Collection

Google

College Networking Sites

Video Chat Applications

Study Sites

Google Docs

Google Chat/ Gmail

Google Classroom

Google Chat

WebEx

Zoom

Positive

Negative

Tailor future data/ applications appropriately to students

Improved efficiency

Understand the needs of students

Data misuse

Lack of security

Loss of trust

Ethical Implications

Rule Utilitarianism

Kantianism

Act Utilitarianism

Some sites can actually generate revenue off of selling private information, thus using students that use their sites as a means to an end

Every person has the right to personal and private information and the right to discuss it as they see fit.

If it becomes ok to unknowingly steal and use students personal information then why should any information be private

More regulation needs to stop companies from collecting private information

Unknown collection and distribution of personal and private data also breach this right to privacy

If written consent is not given a person's right to privacy should not be breached.

Private data collection can also lead to trust issues in some college students

People's personal and private information should be valued and consent should be given before data collection is given

Although not technically illegal, in some cases, invasion of a person's privacy does hurt many individuals affected by it

Chegg

Quizlet

Course Hero

Handshake

Twitter

LinkedIn

Jobcase

Xing

Microsoft

Microsoft Teams

Microsoft Office

Google Workspace

Microsoft Learn

Google Calendar

How Colleges Use Student Data

How Businesses Use Student Data

Targeted Marketing

Companies that create learning algorithms

Chegg/Quizlet/etc. Gather data

Red Bull/ Bed Bath & Beyond Buy data.

Continued enrollment

Admissions and Scholarships

Tracking students

Buying data from data brokers

Asking students

Creating accounts on website

Accepting cookies

Website tracking

App tracking

In today's age, data is incredibly valuable. Because of this, data brokers collect information on people or purchase data from others. Brokers will then mass sell data to other companies

Ever received a notification to accept cookies? By agreeing, the website records an assortment of data from the amount of time spent on the website to things like past search history

Whenever you sign up or create an account on a website, companies will ask for a variety of information

Surveys and/or questionnaires

Companies will often send emails asking for opinions about the company and/or products. Often times you're giving away data by filling them out

Even if you chose not to create an account, if you shop on their website, you're giving away information such as names and addresses

Email tracking

Companies will embed trackers into emails to record analytics such as where/when the email was opened and what links were clicked

Apps will always ask for/record a variety of information without your consent. Things such as location history, audio, and payment history are being stolen

Types of data being collected (Freedman)

Engagment

Behavioral

Personal

Attitudinal

Interactions on websites, apps, emails (links clicked, time spent on website, etc)

Shopping history

Consumer satisfaction

Websites track/collect an abundance of data from IP addresses, browsing history, and how long you stayed on the website

App tracking became such a problem that Apple released a feature that allows a user to disable tracking

Microsoft Education

Microsoft Teams

Google Duo

Google Duo

Data sold or obtained without permission

"All that information can be used to create profiles of you—think of them as virtual, possibly erroneous versions of you—that can be used to target you with ads, classify the riskiness of your lifestyle, or help determine your eligibility for a job." (Menendez)

Credit card numbers

Social security numbers

Product usage

IP adddresses

Purchase criteria

Conclusion

Individual opinions

Overall summary

After thorough research, we believe that uninformed data collection is very unethical. The data can be misused in several ways Not only does it potentially harm the people whose information has been stolen, but it can also ruin the reputation of the company.

Brooke: I believe that it is unethical to collect data without informing the user(s).

Jesse: Unknowingly having your private data collected is extremely unethical. Without your written consent this is a violation of a person's right to some level of privacy.

Anna: Based on our group's research and findings, I do not side in favor of unknown data collection. I believe that it is unethical due to many reasons, the main one being harm and misuse of students' data.

Coy: I believe it's unethical for companies to collect data from uninformed users. Privacy is a human right and people's data privacy should be respected.

Data of students who are struggling academically can be used by the school to create an algorithm that targets those same struggling students and automatically reaches out and offers academic advising services.

This is an example of third-party sites like Chegg and Quizlet using their own data they gather on students to then sell to companies like Red Bull and Bed Bath & Beyond. These companies take that data and specifically advertise to those students.

The scholarship algorithm that colleges use is designed to lower the average amount of money granted in each scholarship so that more individuals with financial needs can be reached.

One algorithm many schools employ is designed to help filter those who are likely to enroll during the admissions process. Once it's determined if someone is likely to enroll their name would be run through the scholarship algorithm.

Companies focus on using student data to produce systems and algorithms that schools can use to increase tuition, student retention, and even create systems to help improve class environments.