Here in the United States, the Education Department has admitted its shared the personal information of hundreds of student loan applicants with the FBI. The sharing was part of a five-year program called Project Strikeback. Officials say the program was used to check applicants for student assistance with names on FBI watchlists. David Warren, president of the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities, said “This operation Strikeback confirms our worst fears about the uses to which these databases can be put.”