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The Center Square [By Jon Styf] and The Tennessee Conservative Staff –
A Tennessee bill to prevent third-party vendors who enter data for the state’s colleges from selling that information has passed in both chambers of the legislature unanimously.
The third-party data mining leads students to get bombarded with offers when they arrive at college, said House sponsor Tim Rudd, R-Murfreesboro.
House Bill 1837 unanimously passed the House on Feb. 26th.
The companion bill, SB1745, passed the Senate unanimously on March 14th.
“A lot of universities hire third-party non-governmental agencies to input data and all of their student information and those third-party organizations, unbeknownst to the universities, has been selling student information,” Rudd said.
The bill would make third-party vendors sign an agreement to not use the data for anything other than its original intended purpose before being allowed to input data.
An amendment on the bill clarifies the universities are allowed to share athlete information with the Southeastern Conference, said Senate sponsor Page Walley, R-Savannah.
About the Author: Jon Styf, The Center Square Staff Reporter – Jon Styf is an award-winning editor and reporter who has worked in Illinois, Texas, Wisconsin, Florida and Michigan in local newsrooms over the past 20 years, working for Shaw Media, Hearst and several other companies. Follow Jon on Twitter @JonStyf.
