Charles G. Kels, JD writes to the Editors of JAMA: In their Viewpoint on the confidentiality of electronic health records (EHRs), Dr Bayer and colleagues made a compelling case that the benefits of EHRs must be weighed against the challenges they pose to adolescent and parental privacy. Read his full letter and the authors’ reply on JAMA.
Category: Youth & Schools
Students Claim New Anti-Cheating Technology Invades Privacy
Lauren R.D. Fox reports: Rutgers University and other academic institutions are using a monitoring program, Proctortrack, that reveals if a student is cheating on an exam for their online course. Betsey Chao, a senior at Rutgers told The New York Times, she had to download the software on her computer and it uses her webcam to scan her…
Major FERPA Overhaul Under Consideration in U.S. House
Benjamin Herold reports: A proposed overhaul of the country’s primary law protecting student-data privacy is being circulated for feedback, offering yet another sign of the federal government’s interest in reshaping the legislative landscape around this hot-button issue. The “discussion draft” of a bill that would rewrite the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, or FERPA,…
Horrific privacy breach by Tewksbury Public Schools
Okay, this is really bad, on multiple levels. Brendan Foley and Jayne Miller report: Tewksbury Public Schools face angry parental backlash following the release of private student information online last week. A document included in a 222-page School Committee packet remained online for the better part of a week, before being taken down Monday. Awareness…