Kamala Harris Campaign Allegedly Texted 150,000 Arizona Students, Raising FERPA Concerns and Calls for Investigation

Oct 7, 2024, 01:52 AM

Kamala Harris's campaign has reportedly sent text messages to 150,000 students from all Arizona universities, including 70,000 from Arizona State University (ASU), raising concerns about how the campaign obtained their personal contact information. Students from ASU and the University of Arizona (UofA) received messages encouraging them to vote for Harris. Some allege that access to these student cell phone numbers and email addresses may have violated the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) and Arizona state laws that regulate data privacy. Questions have been raised regarding whether university officials, such as ASU President Michael Crow—who is also the chairman of the board for In-Q-Tel, the Central Intelligence Agency's venture capital firm—provided the campaign with confidential student data. Calls for an investigation have been made, with some urging the Arizona House to look into the matter.