Malta is now light-years ahead of of U.S. states in terms of collecting, using, and securing student data.
Therese Bonnici reports:
The government has completely re-drafted its contentious means of gathering information on students, which had sparked widespread controversy when they were first announced.
Amendments to the data protection act made this week have made it illegal for educational authorities to request any data pertaining to students younger than 16, and any sensitive personal data shall only be requested from schools with the explicit consent of a parent or legal guardian. The alterations to the act, specifically to the processing of personal data regulations within the education sector, ensure more protection of students’ data following the upheaval caused on Legal Notice 76, proposed by the government early in 2014. The notice empowered education ministry officials, including the minister, to request private data pertaining to children attending educational institutions, from childcare to university level. The decision was later revoked. The remits of education authorities, as well as institutions, are laid down as follows.
Read more on Independent (Malta).