Michele Molnar reports: The education industry and K-12 schools are struggling to plot their way out of what has quickly become an emotionally charged and polarized atmosphere around issues of student-data privacy. Several groups are working to establish more clarity and guidance with new policies and practices, digital badges and privacy ratings, checklists, decisionmaking flow…
Category: Youth & Schools
Ill Conceived California Privacy Bill Threatens Viability Of Commercial Educational Online Services
Alan Friel of BakerHostetler writes: SB 1177, the Student Online Privacy Protection Act was recently introduced in the California legislature. This is a bad bill for the private educational industry, and ultimately for parents and students. It would drastically expand the privacy protections of the Federal Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), and state equivalents, which impose…
Prominent Ed-Tech Players’ Data-Privacy Policies Attract Scrutiny
Benjamin Herold reports: Growing public concern about student-data privacy is prompting fresh scrutiny of the ways technology vendors handle children’s educational information—and opening the gates for a flood of new questions and worries from advocates and school officials. Take prominent ed-tech players Edmodo, Khan Academy, and Pearson. Each already has access to the information of…
KY: Governor Beshear signs data protection bill into law
Joe Arnold reports: A bill aimed at protecting the personal data of both Kentucky consumers and students was signed into law Thursday by Governor Steve Beshear (D-Ky). Sponsored by Rep. Steve Riggs (D-Louisville) with an amendment sponsored by Sen. Mike Wilson (R-Bowling Green), the bipartisan legislation (House Bill 232) requires businesses to notify consumers if…