[Sohcahtoa82]

The real answer?

In case you want to retrieve your test scores 10 years after you took it. They need some way to uniquely identify you. Sure, they could have given you a specific test taker ID, but what if you lost that? They could have created a way for you to log in with an e-mail address, but what if you changed e-mail addresses?

You might think "Why would I need my test scores from 10+ years ago?", but my wife just started a job and they demanded her college transcripts to prove she went there...over 20 years ago.

[xmcp123]

I think the issue here is that it was the university, not ACT. ACT has a valid reason for holding it. A university he never went to does not.

[catlikesshrimp]

Identify the student by full name, dob, date of admission, career, etc. It takes 5 minutes instead of one.

The problem here is using a username (the ID) as a password (security check)

[throwaway173738]

And make them call the registrar during regular hours. That’s what I had to do to get a transcript from 15 years ago once. The registrar holds the records and should be able to provide them.