Agencies fox schools into sharing parents’ data On the pretext of holding competitions, they collect info and sell the same to telemarketing firms

Agencies fox schools into sharing parents’ data

On the pretext of holding competitions, they collect info and sell the same to telemarketing firms

Did your child tell you that an ‘exciting’ competition was held at school where students were given goodies and free gifts? Then don’t be surprised if you start receiving incessant calls from credit card companies or mobile service providers or even coaching classes within a few days. Using competitions, quizzes or charity events as bait, some data agencies are stealing personal information of parents and students from city schools and selling it to telemarketing companies for as much as Rs10 per detail. Recently, reputed schools fell prey to such tactics. Last week, four representatives of a company approached a renowned school in Dadar on the pretext of holding a state-level scholarship test, which they claimed was state-approved. The school principal allowed students to appear for this test believing that it would provide them good exposure. While students had to fill in details such as contact number, parents’ profession, annual income, home address and others in the registration forms, the actual test paper contained just a few questions. “They promised prizes such as laptops, pendrives and even distributed discount gift vouchers worth Rs2,000 that could be used on the purchase of software worth Rs10,000. Within a few days we began receiving complaints from parents that representatives from this software company were visiting them at home in order to sell their merchandise. Parents of students who scored above 80% began receiving calls from coaching classes,” a teacher from the school said, adding that they have blacklisted the company. “We even checked with the education department and found that they had not granted permission to any agency to hold such an exam.” A Jogeshwari school too was cheated similarly. Vice president of Teacher’s Democratic Front Rajesh Pandya, who teaches at the school, said he has banned a Delhi group that claimed to be holding charity events for those suffering from haemophilia from approaching the school. “They collected some Rs70,000 to 75,000 and started pestering parents — calling them on their landlines and cell phones — to contribute more.” The deputy director of education has warned schools not to entertain such agencies. NB Chavan, deputy director of education, said, “If any agency claims they have been sent by the education department, schools should first check if they have any letter to prove the same.”