Digital privacy concerns are growing. According to a 2016 Pew study, Americans consistently stated they lack confidence in everyday communication channels and the companies in charge of those channels.
Searching and applying for college scholarships online requires applicants to surrender some of their digital privacy. And not all scholarships are legitimate.
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In fact, some organizations are clever in the way they gather — and sell — personal information about you to marketers. This can be true even if there really is a scholarship at the end of the process. As such, scholarship applicants need to be careful to apply only for legitimate scholarships.
Here are some key tips to look for before applying to a scholarship.
— Phony organizations: The scholarship site should have an About Us page, giving the name of the business or nonprofit offering the award. Do a quick web search to make sure the business or nonprofit exists and has made recent updates to the website.
— No clear criteria for how entries will be judged: If the scholarship website doesn’t outline the factors that evaluators will consider, the scholarship could be phony.
— Requests financial information: Most legitimate scholarship organizations have access to information from the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, known more widely to college applicants as FAFSA. That means you shouldn’t have to provide Social Security numbers, salaries and other personal information for yourself or your parents.
— Absence of clear privacy policies: Before applying for a scholarship, read the organization’s privacy policy on the website. Make sure it states definitively that it won’t sell information you provide.
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Sometimes scammers try to enrich themselves while promising to enrich you. Here are ways to recognize potential scams that can cost you money.
— Consider how you’re contacted: If someone claiming to represent a scholarship organization calls to tell you that you’ve won an award that you don’t remember applying for, this could be an attempt to fool you, especially depending on how the scholarship is paid.
— Note the award payout method: Most legit scholarships will pay the award directly to the university or college, not to the recipient. If the organization wants to write a direct check to you, it’s probably OK. However, a red flag is if the scholarship organization asks for your bank account number, since this could be an attempt to access your money.
— You must pay an application fee: Never pay to apply for a scholarship.
While it is critical to be aware of who you are giving your information to, some students have a passion for privacy that leads them to pursue a career in the digital privacy field. For those students, some legitimate companies offer scholarships to help lighten the financial burden of paying for college.
For example, Digital Responsibility, a company started by a group of Silicon Valley tech workers that is dedicated to helping people use the internet wisely, offers a $1,000 Digital Privacy Scholarship to teach students about taking responsibility for their social media posts.
High schoolers, home-schooled students, undergraduates, graduate students and nontraditional students are eligible to apply and must be U.S. citizens or legal residents. Applicants must first write a 140-character Twitter-type message that finishes this prompt: “I’m taking responsibility for my digital profile by ….”
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Applicants with the top 10 responses become finalists and must compose a 500- 1,000-word essay about digital privacy.
ExpressVPN, a leading VPN provider, offers the ExpressVPN Future of Privacy Scholarship, valued at up to $5,000, to raise awareness of internet privacy and security. A winner is chosen based on an essay.
Applicants must be high school seniors, undergraduates or graduate students in U.S. or United Kingdom schools and must write a 300- to 400-word essay on the following topic: “It’s 2027 and government surveillance on citizens’ internet activities is legal, in force, and widespread. Governments worldwide are watching everything you’re doing. What happens to art, culture, innovation, scientific research, freedom of expression, etc.? ” The submission deadline is Aug. 31, with winners notified in October.
While many scholarship awards are legit, others aren’t, but that doesn’t mean you should refrain from applying for scholarships. College scholarships give students a chance to pursue their education while avoiding at least some of staggering student loan debt they may acquire. However, it’s critical to understand the signs of potential scam scholarships and know how to protect your personal information.
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Protect Your Privacy When Applying for Scholarships originally appeared on usnews.com
