60 million students across the US impacted. Big Finance keeps trolling for data and the Bush administration offers nothing more than (questionable) hand-wringing and bark but no bite.
The unauthorized searching has grown so pervasive that the Education Department is considering a temporary shutdown of the government-run database to review access policies and tighten security.If we didn't already know this routine, it might even be a surprise to read that the administration is "considering" shutting this down. Will the administration ever lift a finger to protect average Americans?
Some officials worry that businesses are trolling for marketing data they can use to bombard students with mass mailings or other solicitations.
Students' Social Security numbers, e-mail addresses, phone numbers, birth dates, and sensitive financial information such as loan balances are in the database, which is covered by federal privacy laws.
