Facebook Beacon Can’t Be A Part of the Student Loan Network

November 30, 2007 @ Financial Aid Podcast Daily Free Internet Radio On Demand from financialaidpodcast@gmail.com (Christopher S. Penn )

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I just had a thought.

The Student Loan Network, and for that matter any student loan company, can’t use Facebook’s Beacon advertising service for its core loan products.

From the Beacon description page:

Simply determine which user actions you would like publish to Facebook and add a few lines of code to your web page. Facebook Beacon actions include purchasing a product, signing up for a service, adding an item to a wish list, and more. When a user performs the action, they will be alerted that your website is sending a story to their profile and have a chance to opt out. No additional user action is needed for the story to be published on Facebook, and users remain in control of their information.

Here’s the issue with Beacon and student loan products: under regulations such as FERPA and the Gramm Leach Bliley Act, attaching Facebook’s Beacon service to a student loan service like our Stafford Federal Student Loan could publicly disclose that someone borrowed or had the intent to borrow a student loan. Disclosing nonpublic financial information is a major no-no, and since the Student Loan Network is committed to your privacy, Beacon can’t live on our transactional sites - or any other financial institution’s site in which a nonpublic financial transaction could take place. Just imagine in your Facebook News Feed:

“Bob just borrowed $20 from a Bank of America ATM at Solomon Pond Mall! Bob paid $2.50 in service fees and has a remaining balance of $251.”

I’ve applied for Beacon for the Financial Aid Podcast to see what it does, and if I’m approved and get into the program, I will publicly disclose exactly what actions you need to take on the Financial Aid Podcast web site to trigger Beacon’s activation. I’m thinking I’d like to attach it to the Add to iTunes button, since listening to the podcast is NOT indicative that you need financial aid or have an intent to borrow, since lots of my social media friends listen to the show who don’t need financial aid of any kind.

What are your thoughts on this?

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