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Comment by pbhjpbhj | Hacker News Reader

Is there a legal conflict here - do writers of letters not have any protections under the law to prevent the letter being made public, or passed on to third parties. Do you lose all legal rights and controls over letters once you mail them?

The teachers maker recommendations clearly had an assumption of privacy in their communication?

If the Uni chose to precis the letter - eg provide a score in its place - would the right to view its content disappear. Is it just by virtue of it being attached directly to your internal academic record that one gets the ability to view it?

Interesting.

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"On the Common App used by most top colleges, applicants are asked to check a box waiving their right to ever see the recommendation letters written by their high school teachers and counselors. But students who did not check the box can get copies of those, too."

although if I recall correctly, it seemed obligatory to check that box in order to get our recommendation letters sent through Common App.

Sounds like a dark pattern.

Yeah, my college counselors basically said "if you don't click this box the college will disregard your letters of rec."

You are allowed to keep your FERPA recommendation rights but, as misingnoglic, most universities will not pay much attention to your recommendations if you choose to do so.

https://appsupport.commonapp.org/link/portal/33011/33013/Art...

How do you have an assumption of privacy when you are the one mailing out the letter to some third party?

It's _to_ the third party, not to the public. Particularly if it's to a named person and for a specific reason. That's just my instinctive take on this.

I haven't researched this issue at all before - though I did read this, http://www.cornellpress.cornell.edu/html/WYSIWYGfiles/file/G..., recently which suggests not publishing any private letters without consent and that letters from "government officials" (which teachers would be here it seems?) need permission from the relevant department. However that's a particular publishers guidelines and doesn't go in to the legal requirements that, inter alia, lead to those guidelines.

Are undergraduate recommendation letters really sent to a specific person? And only that person reads it? I doubt it.

I briefly browsed the organization's website, but I didn't find any verbatim copies of the documents they describe obtaining, so I can't confirm/deny this suspicion.

I think it's known that the letters can be read by anyone at the University and Federal Law has stated for the last 40 years that students have a right to view these communications. Not only has this right been codified for at least a generation, every student does have the right to know what a school is recording and communicating about them.

There's no (valid) assumption of privacy anywhere to be found here.

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