Discussion:
What is the name of your state? Tennessee
I have alumni related webpages and run forums for people around the world that went to certain schools in the USA.
I create an alumni directory that lists the following:
Class Year/Full name/email addresses
I publish this information on a webpage that only alumni know about, if they've been told about it by me or others, but anyone can find it if they did a search for @ symbols when trying to harvest email address for spam purposes or even come across it accidentally. I've decided to take it down for that reason and to just send it out with the newsletters to only those who subscribe, but I haven't done that yet because I'd rather not if I don't have to.
Recently, a few people got upset that their names were listed and asked for removal and I honor those requests (three out of thousands so far), but have been told by a friend, and from my not finding anything about this on the internet, that I do not have to remove them from such directory listings or have to remove the directory, itself, from my personal webspace.
I cannot find anything on the internet whether this is cause for winning a lawsuit against me for publishing this information or whether or not it's some kind of infringement.
I view this as a sharing of my personal address book (but don't label it as such) and I don't see where it would be a problem if I sent out an email with C.C. and all those names and email addresses showed in the header. Wouldn't it be the same thing, even though it's not emailed from my personal email account, but is posted on my personal webspace? Certainly nobody could sue over such c.c. headers in an email! But this is a public display (if on my webpage) of that list or a distribution of it (if included within a newsletter), with many on the list maybe not knowing they're even on a list.
The names and email addresses are collected in a variety of ways, from sending my helpers to spy and gather names within other alumni forums, to being sent names and email addresses by other alumni, to inviting them myself to subscribe to a newsletter and get their names on the list. But they don't have to subscribe. If I have their information, I'll post it for every other alumni's benefit and their own, assuming they'd like for other alumni to be able to find them easily and email them for free without paying for sites that charge for this service.
Having their names listed may or may not be known to many on the directory and they may not even know we exist and do such alumni related things.
For instance, if I have YOUR name, school you attended, class year and email address, I would add you on that particular alumni directory without your permission and maybe later, if time allows, I'll invite you into our forum or to get the newsletter for your school and then you'll know about the list. My intentions are for everyone to know, but my time is limited in the marketing of other alumni related things.
I have one person who may cause trouble over this and bring suit and I'd like to get prepared.
I'm not looking for the ethical decisions on the matter but only the legal.
My concern right now is the listings that have already been seen/posted/emailed in the past or that I may continue to post and distribute in the future within the newsletters. Even if I delete the lists from the webpages and include it only within the opt-in newsletter, past lists have already been distributed to those of likemind or have been viewed by alumni dropping into a forum to see it posted there.
Do I have to remove people who ask to be removed from an alumni directory? Do I have to ask permission to list them and how do I prove I've received that permission, since emails can be tampered with, even if I wrote to everyone to ask permission now? Do I need to get permission at all? The newsletters have opt-in capabilities but the directory does not, nor do I wish it to have at this time.
I cannot find any information about this on the internet and I surely don't want to be the first to be sued and have a precident set for those against the public display of their names and email addresses. But I don't want to limit the directories to only those who give permission since they are so long and do such good for the alumni.
I charge for no services. I don't sell lists. I'm just a stay at home mom who does this when the kids are in school.
Also, if sued, do I get summoned to another court in the USA and have to travel to get there?
Also, are yearbook pictures scanned and posted on the net copywritten?
Thanks so much for any info (and proof of what you say is true, if you can find a webpage on such matters. I cannot.)
Answer:
Privacy and identity theft laws vary from state to state; names and e-mail addresses are generally public records.
Under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), schools may release "directory" information without the consent of the student:
"Schools may disclose, without consent, "directory" information such as a student's name, address, telephone number, date and place of birth, honors and awards, and dates of attendance."
This law covers all schools that are eligible to receive federal student aid. This would suggest that such infomration would not be considered "private" or "confidential."
There may be state laws as well. You might consider searching around at to check each state's laws. Maybe you could find a law library or regular library that has a copy of this book:
Also, if sued, do I get summoned to another court in the USA and have to travel to get there? Someone could try to sue you somewhere else, but you could challenge the venue. Simply putting something up on the web does not create the necessary "minimum contacts" to give another state jurisdiction over you. They would have to sue you in your home state.
Also, are yearbook pictures scanned and posted on the net copywritten? Yes. You cannot use yearbook pictures -- even ones you have scanned yourself -- without permission from the copyright holder, which is most likely the school which published the yearbook.
Do I have to remove people who ask to be removed from an alumni directory? Probably not legally, but you might want to do so anyway just to avoid trouble. Just because something you are doing is legal doesn't mean it won't piss off someone else, who them might try and make your life difficult. Even if what you are doing is totaly legal, if someone sues you, you still have to defend the suit, and that takes time and money.
Answer:
Thanks for the information. If I'm not a school would what you said at the beginning still hold true?
Answer:
If I'm not a school would what you said at the beginning still hold true? Whether or not you are a school is not the point. The point is, if schools can give that information up to a thrid party withou consent from the student, then it is pretty unlikely that under federal law such information would be considered "private" information. And further, information compiled from public resources -- like searching Google, for example -- is also unlikely to be considered "private" information.
It still might be in your best interest to do some further research, and/or talk with a local attorney, to make absolutely sure you are in the clear. And the above law is federal law -- state law may be more restrictive.
Answer:
"Schools may disclose, without consent, "directory" information such as a student's name, address, telephone number, date and place of birth, honors and awards, and dates of attendance." I'm glad I checked that link. You left off this part. "However, schools must tell parents and eligible students about directory information and allow parents and eligible students a reasonable amount of time to request that the school not disclose directory information about them. Schools must notify parents and eligible students annually of their rights under FERPA. The actual means of notification (special letter, inclusion in a PTA bulletin, student handbook, or newspaper article) is left to the discretion of each school."
So I'm assuming I need to ask permission anyways and give a reasonable time to opt-out. What's a reasonable time, considering this will be done through email and I have no way of knowing if they get it or not. Where's the proof of my doing so?
Answer:
There may be state laws as well. You might consider searching around at to check each state's laws. That findlaw website has some kind of intruder or they are using one. I'm getting this several times from Norton I.S. when visiting their site for the last half hour.
Intrustion: HTTP_ActivePerl_Overflow
Intruder: 0.0.0.0(3720)
Risk Level: medium
Protocol: TCP
Attacked IP: ehg-findlaw.hitbox.com(64.154.80.250)
Attacked Port: http(80)
I don't guess I'd recommend using that site.
Besides that, I couldn't find anything about alumni directories or sharing of email addresses there either. I can't find anything on it anywhere, except that first site you mentioned.
Answer:
You left off this part. "However, schools must tell parents and eligible students about directory information and allow parents and eligible students a reasonable amount of time to request that the school not disclose directory information about them. Schools must notify parents and eligible students annually of their rights under FERPA. The actual means of notification (special letter, inclusion in a PTA bulletin, student handbook, or newspaper article) is left to the discretion of each school." Actually I left of that part for a good reason -- you are not a school. The point of posting that particular law was not so much to show what you can or can't do -- that will probably be more focused on your state privacy laws anyway -- but to indicate that these types of records are NOT subject to the same type of confidentiality as are, for example, social security numbers, or driver's license numbers, or other forms of information that, if posted on the net, would definitely be a privacy issue.
If you don't want to use findlaw (and I do all of the time, but I'm behind a strong firewall, so I guess I've never worried about events coming from findlaw), each state usually publishes it code or regulations and statutes online, either thorugh their state homepage or some other portal. Look up laws regarding privacy and identity theft, there you'll find out what you most likely can and can't post.
Answer:
Look up laws regarding privacy and identity theft, there you'll find out what you most likely can and can't post. I can't find anything about alumni directories or email addys or names being trademarks. Just spam issues. Days and days I spend searching and I come up with nothing even closely related.
Not complaining**************just wanting you to know...