Showing the most active scholastic players in each state raises issues similar to showing the highest rated scholastic players in each state, namely that it could disclose some age information about a large number of young members.
Yes, we already show age information for some players (those who make the Top 100 age-based lists), and it is possible to make a pretty good guess of someone’s age by looking at what events they have played in. (Someone who played in the 3rd grade section at the National K-12 championships was probably somewhere around 9 years old, for example.) The recent update to MSA indicate whether someone is eligible to register as a voting member may also provide some information about that person’s age.
It is up to the ED, Executive Board or the Delegates to make any decisions to show additional information such as top 100 scholastic players or most active scholastic players on a state-by-state basis.
Such a policy change should probably be part of a thorough review of the USCF’s privacy policies, including checking to see what federal and state laws there are on this subject. (There were multiple stories on the wire services recently about new laws that took effect on January 1st, including several dealing with the Internet, but most of them didn’t provide a lot of details.)
I guess then that listing scholastic players on the Junior Grand Prix (JGP) may be illegal? Will MSA records on scholastic players have to be taken down off this website to make it compliant with the new privacy laws of several states?
I’m not interested in seeking individual or personal (age, gender, address) information being posted. A general list of the top rated, or most active, need not disclose any more than a name. At least publish the top adult players.
I was called recently by a reporter concerning chess, chess masters, and kids in chess. He asked me if he could talk to some of my students. He was well versed in privacy law and said he would only publish information, pictures, or interviews after receiving permission from parents. Without permission, he would run afoul of his editor and the legal department of his paper.
However, as I recall the newspaper here published the names of the honor roll students when my kids were in school, and I don’t recall them or the school district ever asking us for permission.
Many chess tournaments are public events (or at least being held in public places like a hotel), and there is nothing to keep a spectator from wandering around at a national scholastic event, looking at wall charts and making the same guesses as to the ages of the participants that could be made from the crosstables on MSA.
This is an issue I have raised with the USCF ED and Executive Board more than once over the years.
Mike these are extremely good and valid points. As a former recreational
soccer league commissioner, this was an issue we struggled with. On one
hand, we wanted the kids to have recognition, yet, this was balanced
by child safety, privacy, and legal issues. This fact is simple, the greater
the data, from photographs to names/state recognition, the greater the
potential risk, and the greater the liability.
Which is why any further expansion of age-related information (even indirectly) on the website should be preceded by a review of the USCF’s privacy policies.