Unit 9 of 12
Keeping information accurate
Before the school uses information, it must take reasonable steps to check it is accurate, up to date and complete.
Meet a family in dispute
The school must take reasonable steps to make sure information is accurate before it acts on it. Consider a fee-assistance scholarship awarded on the basis of a family's financial hardship.
The finance office receives an unsigned tip claiming the family has undisclosed overseas property, and moves to withdraw the scholarship — leaving the student's place in doubt for weeks. It later emerges the tip referred to a different family with a similar surname; a note about them had been filed against the wrong record.
Reasonable steps
The school assumed the tip referred to this family and acted on it. The law requires reasonable steps to check accuracy first. What counts as reasonable depends on:
- How old the information is.
- Where it came from — information from a third party needs more checking than information from the person themselves.
- What it will be used for — the more it could harm someone, the more checking is required.
How much checking should the school do before acting? Many, some, or a few steps?
The finance office is about to refer a family to a debt collector over unpaid fees.
A staff recruiter searches a candidate's name online and finds articles alleging dishonesty.