JULY 25, 2014New tool for navigating federal privacy laws
(District of Columbia) A recent cyberattack that sent one school district’s field test of a new online state assessment into a tailspin earlier this year was enough to strike panic into the hearts of school district administrators everywhere. If malfeasance can disrupt the flow of internet traffic during a critical testing window, could it also steal private student data, tamper with transcripts, or take down a district’s entire network?
And perhaps more pressing is the rising tide of parent voices concerned that their children’s private information — like grades, health issues, addresses and birthdays — could be accessed by third parties for non-educational purposes.
Hoping to help districts prevent such alarming developments and apply best practices in educational technology, the Washington, D.C. based Consortium for School Networking has released two new resources to help school systems avoid violations of student privacy and vulnerabilities to their data systems.
“Over the last year, everyone has seen a great increase in the United States on the issue of privacy,” Keith Krueger, CEO of the consortium, a national association for district technology leaders that maintains chapters in 20 states, said in an interview.
He noted that a national furor over privacy protection has been spurred by developments both outside and within education. The National Security Agency’s collection of U.S. citizens’ phone data, as well as the theft of private financial information from more than 40 million Target customers, has raised awareness about data vulnerability over the last year.
Within education, Krueger noted the demise of inBloom, the ambitious student data collection effort backed by the Gates and Carnegie foundations that ceased operations last spring in the face New tool for navigating federal privacy laws :: SI&A Cabinet Report :: The Essential Resource for Superintendents and the Cabinet: