PHOENIX — Multiple Arizona State University students tell 12News they received a text message from Vice President Kamala Harris over the weekend urging them to register to vote and elect her in November. Arizona Republicans are questioning how the student's data was accessed en masse.
“There have been Republicans, Independents and Democrats who have been concerned of how their information was accessed on Sunday morning," President of ASU Republicans, Carson Carpenter said.
Carpenter is joined by Republican State Senator Jake Hoffman, who is initiating a state Senate investigation into how this text message was sent to students at Arizona State University, Arizona University, and Northern Arizona University.
The text message obtained by 12News starts by saying "Hey Sun Devils, it's Kamala Harris." The full contents can be read below:
The Arizona Board of Regents, which represents Arizona public universities, says a Federal law known as FERPA (Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act) allows for the release of "directory information" on college students. This can be information like a student's major, dates of attendance, and enrollment status. Also included in FERPA is the release of contact information like their phone numbers.
“It allows vendors to come in and market to these students services that they may not otherwise know that they have," Valley attorney Tom Ryan said.
Ryan says this all boils down to the students' information being an available public record. It's often used by credit card companies, apartment complexes, and in this case, a political candidate.
Carpenter questions how often this is used by private companies.
“We've seen that message from ASU saying credit card companies and other private companies could access this information as well. If that were the case, students would be receiving 200 privatized messages to their phones on a daily basis, and we don't see that as the case," Carpenter said.
He says ASU Republicans plan to file FOIA (Freedom of Information Act) requests with his university to learn who specifically requested the students' data and how it was done.
The Harris campaign in Arizona has declined to comment on whether they bought the students' information.
Ryan says students can opt out of having their information appear in public records and may do so for a variety of reasons.
“There may be good reasons for that. Somebody might be a domestic violence victim, somebody might be a former, you know, federal employee that had a security clearance," Ryan said.
Hoffman issued a statement to 12News on his concerns over someone affiliated with the Kamala Harris campaign getting access to students' personal information.
The breach of students’ personally identifiable information to a political campaign raises serious ethical and legal concerns, especially when access to that same information has been denied to nonprofit voter engagement organizations and the Trump campaign in the past. Even more concerning is that, according to a university spokesperson, the University of Arizona “did not receive a request from the Harris campaign for directory information,” which raises deeply troubling questions about the lack of data security.
Students choose to attend our in-state public universities for a myriad of reasons, none of which include having their personal information sold to partisan political campaigns. This is yet another stunning breach of the public’s trust by an ethically suspect, out-of-touch Kamala Harris.
Ryan is pushing back on claims that any laws were broken.
“Contrary to what Senator Hoffman is saying, it is not illegal, it is not immoral, it is not unethical, it's not improper, it's not even fattening. They just got beat to the punch, and he's upset about it," Ryan said.
Arizona State University says any student who does not want their directory information to be released may file a form requesting that their information be withheld.
NAU outlines what is included in directory information here. NAU students may opt-out or limit what directory information is released within the university’s LOUIE portal. NAU public records can be requested here.
UA outlines what is included in directory information here. UA students may opt out or limit what directory information is released within the university’s UAccess portal, which will remain in effect unless and until the student releases the restriction. UA public records can be requested here.
Decision 2024
Track all of our current updates with the upcoming elections in Arizona on our 12News YouTube channel. Subscribe for updates on all of our new uploads.