Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act: Complying with FERPA and Protecting Higher Education Students in Today’s Technology-Driven World

Schools have an obligation to protect the privacy of students and families, but in today’s technology-driven world, it has become a challenge. The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) outlines how administrators and faculty can secure families’ private information, but increased cyberthreats and cyberattacks have posed a challenge for both K-12 and secondary schools. 



Digital Tracking Technologies and HIPAA Regulations

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) has been in place to protect patients since 1996, but technology and personal data access has expanded exponentially since then. Today, digital tracking technologies and other online communications can create a “fingerprint” or digital ID of a person’s healthcare digital interactions, which expose sensitive information that has allowed some marketers to leverage this private data to achieve their objectives. 



Using Data and Variable Messaging to Rethink the Direct Marketing 40/40/20 Rule

The 40/40/20 rule was developed over 60 years ago by direct marketing pioneer Ed Mayer to convey the value each element of a direct mail effort contributes toward driving results. The rule purports that 40% of direct mail success is attributed to the mailing list, 40% from the offer and the remaining 20% from the format, design and copy of the mail piece.