(Luis Cornelio, Headline USA) Vice President Kamala Harris’s presidential campaign refuses to explain how it obtained sensitive student data in Arizona—later exploiting it for a massive get-out-the-vote effort.
On Sunday, the Harris campaign sent unsolicited text messages to students, parents and others affiliated with Arizona’s three major universities about voter registration deadlines.
The three affected institutions were Arizona State University, the University of Arizona, and Northern Arizona University.
While universities claimed that data could be released under the Family Education Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), Republicans in the Arizona Senate have launched an investigation, arguing the law prohibits campaigns from accessing students’ personal information.
Arizona Sen. Jake Hoffman, a Republican and founder of the Arizona Freedom Caucus, leads the investigation, calling Harris’s access to the directory a “MAJOR” security breach on X.
“I was made aware of this breach of security by dozens of students today and intend to throw the full weight of the Arizona Senate into ascertaining how the Harris campaign acquired these students’ legally protected personally identifiable information,” Hoffman affirmed in an interview with the New York Post.
🚨KAMALA EXPLOITS PRIVATE STUDENT DATA FOR CAMPAIGN
It is ILLEGAL for political campaigns to access personally identifiable information (PII) of public university students within AZ.
This is a MAJOR security breach!
I will be opening a full Senate investigation immediately. https://t.co/mfYFrQ6met
— Jake Hoffman (@JakeHoffmanAZ) October 7, 2024
The University of Arizona told the Post that the Harris campaign never requested directory information.
Arizona State University claimed that student contact information, majors and enrollment details are matters of “public record.”
Northern Arizona University claimed that entities often request such information from institutions.
“We receive these types of requests many times throughout the year and the requestor must pay for data they ask for,” said NAU spokesperson Kimberly Ott.
The Harris campaign declined to comment on the scandal when reached by the Post, drawing criticism on X.
🚨 NEW DEVELOPMENTS: The Kamala Harris campaign is now refusing to answer basic questions about how they got ahold of private student data… very shady…
Glad we have @AZSenateGOP @votewarren and @JakeHoffmanAZ working to get to the bottom of this. https://t.co/lp9jHmGZJk pic.twitter.com/A8DTiIPErj
— Dan Coulson (@DanCoulsonAZ) October 7, 2024
