States may inherit role of protector of student data
(Wyo.) Lawmakers in Wyoming are set to become the first to adopt a new student data protection law since Congress decided in December not to rewrite the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act as part of its sweeping overhaul of the nation’s primary education law.
Senate File 14, sponsored by a joint legislative panel, would prohibit school officials from making any demand or requirement that students turn over passwords or digital information related to their personal internet accounts. The bill would also prohibit the commercial use of any individual student data while calling on the state schools chief to develop in conjunction with information experts a new system for protecting student information.
The bill comes in the wake of the embrace of the Every Student Succeeds Act, which dramatically scaled back the role of the federal government in K-12 education policy while giving back to the states a lot more control over testing and school performance.
But the new law does little to alter the rules surrounding student data privacy. School advocates had been pushing Congressional leaders to address what some believed were cumbersome and sometimes outdated regulations contained in FERPA.
Originally adopted in 1974, FERPA gives parents specific rights to inspect and review their child’s educational records and generally requires a parent’s permission to release any personal information from the file. The law also defines what information is protected – known as personally identifiable information – such as names, dates of birth or a mother’s maiden name.
As the promise of internet learning exploded across the nation and new concerns were realized that some private companies were using curriculum interface to mine personal information about students for marketing purposes, the U.S. Department of Education issued new guidance in 2014 – some of which wasn’t well received.
A number of conservative groups criticized the new direction as potentially allowing a breach in student and family privacy rights.
The apparent absence of new law over student privacy in ESSA has drawn some criticism by some in both the education and computer industry who note that the administration’s ‘Race to the Top’ program required grant winners to develop a secure and confidential data bank for storing longitudinal student information.
Although there are several bills pending in Congress that might address some of the privacy issues, States may inherit role of protector of student data :: SI&A Cabinet Report :: The Essential Resource for Superintendents and the Cabinet: