10 million California student records about to be released to attorneys
California public-school records on about 10 million students -- including their Social Security numbers -- will soon be handed over to attorneys for a parent group suing the state, with both parties blaming the other for the impending release of private information.
Fewer than 10 people will receive the student data, and their review will be overseen by a court-ordered special master in electronic discovery. The attorneys reviewing the records are required to keep the data private and confidential, and will have to return or destroy it afterward. Parents also may request by April 1 an exemption from the court order to release their students' information, which will include addresses, test scores, disciplinary records, health and mental health records and more.
(ThinkStock Photo)
But privacy advocates worry about potential for the data to escape.
"Where does that software sit, where does that data sit?" asked Steven Liao, a Danville parent and IT professional. Once data has left the Department of Education, he said, there's no way to confirm control over it. The data will migrate to where it's backed up, he noted, and even if the analysts then destroy it once they're done, he asked, "where is confirmation it's been destroyed?"
Parents in the Morgan Hill Unified School District filed the lawsuit, which contends that the California Department of Education does not force school districts to provide appropriate special-education services for children needing them.
California Concerned Parents Association, a group with members in 80 school districts throughout the state, has sought statewide data to prove its case that students with identified needs are not being provided adequate services. To do that, it needs to survey student school records.
But the group said it wasn't seeking kids' private information.
"We asked repeatedly, many times, for the data without identifiable information," said the group's president, Linda McNulty, whose son formerly attended Morgan Hill schools. She said the state Education Department refused.
But state officials insist they're not at fault.
"The California Department of Education has been fighting vigorously to defend the privacy rights of students throughout California, but we are required to comply with the court order in this case," department spokesman Peter Tira said.
It was not immediately clear why Social Security numbers and other sensitive information couldn't be redacted.
Judge Kimberly J. Mueller of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California has required the state to turn over data on all students in K-12 schools since January 2008. The data will go to the plaintiff's attorneys, Sagy Law Associates of San Francisco, sometime 10 million California student records about to be released to attorneys - San Jose Mercury News:
