Scott Koller writes: Student privacy has become a hot topic as regulators and legislatures alike, take a close look at how companies handle student data. At the forefront of this issue is the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), a federal statute enforced by the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) and designed to protect and regulate the collection…
Category: Youth & Schools
Connecticut student privacy bill quashed by House committee
Marcos Colón reports: A state privacy bill meant to protect the personally identifiable information of Connecticut students was rejected by a Connecticut House committee this week. Originally passed by the Education Committee on a 22-10 vote, Senate Bill 423 would have prevented the release of scores related to a military-aptitude test, as well as other…
Big Data and Our Children’s Future: On Reforming FERPA
Daniel Solove writes: Last week, the White House released its report, Big Data: Seizing Opportunities, Preserving Values. My reaction to it is mixed. […] FERPA is not getting the job done. It lacks many of the key components that modern privacy regulation have. As a result, school systems are failing to adequately protect the personal data of…
Google Stops Scanning Student E-Mail Messages for Advertising
Brian Womack reports: Google Inc. (GOOG:US) is taking additional steps to avoid marketing to kids, this time by removing advertisements from e-mails in its education suite. The company said today in a blog post that it has stopped scanning Gmail messages within the Apps for Education software package, and can’t collect or use the student data for…