Steve Kolowich writes: The U.S. Education Department wants to encourage colleges and the tech companies they work with to protect student data from misuse. But the agency’s power to protect the privacy of people taking free, online courses is essentially nonexistent. “Data in the higher-education context for MOOCs is seldom Ferpa-protected,” Kathleen Styles, the Education…
Category: Youth & Schools
PA Citizens Ask Gov. Corbett for Data Collection Moratorium
November 24, 2014. Harrisburg, Pa; Pennsylvanians Restoring Education, Pennsylvania Against Common Core, citizens of Pennsylvania, parents and students are asking Governor Corbett to place a moratorium on the data collection in the Pennsylvania Information Management System, PIMS, on our students in all 500 school districts. We are asking the Governor to rescind all contracts and…
EPIC Uncovers DOD Student Recruiting Database Privacy Protections
From EPIC.org: The Department of Defense has released to EPIC documents on the “Joint Advertising and Market Research Studies” Recruiting Database. The database includes sensitive student information, including home address and grade point average. DOD obtains this information from high schools offering military aptitude tests, state DMVs, and commercial data brokers. The documents sought by EPIC shed light on how DOD collects, retains, uses, and safeguards student information within the database. The…
Toning Down the Tweets Just in Case Colleges Pry
Natasha Singer reports: Admissions officers at Morehouse College in Atlanta were shocked several years ago when a number of high school seniors submitted applications using email addresses containing provocative language. Some of the addresses made sexual innuendos while others invoked gangster rap songs or drug use, said Darryl D. Isom, Morehouse’s director of admissions and recruitment. But last…