Education verification: why confirm a former student's degree?

In short

• You already hold these facts. A university or school keeps a record of who studied there, when, what they studied and what they were awarded. You are asked only whether the dates, the subject and the award match yours.
• It protects your degrees. A degree is worth only as much as an employer can trust it. Each confirmation shows that one of yours is genuine, and one you cannot match stays marked as claimed by the person, never as confirmed.
• certo asks on the person's behalf, with their explicit consent. They started the check from their own signed-in certo account, chose your institution and the address we wrote to, and picked each fact you are asked about.
• You do not have to answer. No law we know of obliges you to answer certo. You may decline on the same page.

What you are asked, and what not

• Asked: whether the dates of study, the subject and the award (the degree, diploma or certificate), as the person claimed them, match your records.
• Not asked: grades or marks, conduct or disciplinary matters, fees, an opinion of the person, or anything about health, family, beliefs or a criminal record.
• You send no new personal data. You tick what matches and name your team. Anything you do not tick stays marked as claimed by the person.

If you already have a verification service

Many universities answer degree checks through their registrar, a verification service or a national register of graduates. Answering here is the same check, made once, for one person who asked for it. If you would rather we used your service, write to support@certo.bio.

If you award degrees to many graduates, you can record them on certo yourself, so a graduate never has to ask: see Preparing and sending a graduate batch.

The legal basis

Confirming a person's studies is processing their personal data, so it needs a legal basis. Here it is the person's own request.

• Consent of the person (GDPR Art. 6(1)(a)). In the EU and the EEA the General Data Protection Regulation applies directly. The person's request names your institution and the exact facts, so it is specific and informed, and it is freely given: the person alone decides whether to ask.
• You can prove it (GDPR Art. 7(1)). A controller relying on consent must be able to show it. certo keeps a record of every request: which account asked, when, and for which facts. Write to support@certo.bio and we send you the record for the request you received.
• Only what is needed (GDPR Art. 5(1)(c)). The request lists only the facts the person wants confirmed, and the page lets you confirm only those.
• Outside the EU and the EEA your own data protection law applies. The person's request, and certo's record of it, are the same wherever you are.

Education has no country pages yet. Education law and national registers of graduates differ from country to country, and each page will quote its own.

If you decline, or do not answer

Press "We do not answer these requests" and the record shows that your institution declined. Nothing else is asked of you. If nobody answers before the request closes, the record says “no reply”, never confirmed.

This is not legal advice

This page explains why certo considers answering lawful, as the law stood on the date above. It is not legal advice for your institution. If your legal team has a question, write to support@certo.bio.

Sources

• Regulation (EU) 2016/679, the GDPR (EUR-Lex): Articles 5(1)(c), 6(1)(a) and 7(1)