An Investigation of US Universities' Implementation of FERPA Student Directory Policies and Student Privacy Preferences

The Family Education Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) is intended to protect student privacy, but has not adapted well to current technology. We consider a special class of student data: directory information. Unlike other FERPA-controlled data, directory information (e.g., student names, contact information, university affiliation) can be shared publicly online or by request without explicit permission.