Authored by PIPC Staff

The Policymaker’s Guide to Student Data Privacy

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The Policymaker’s Guide to Student Data Privacy April 2019 Tyler Park, Sara Collins, and Amelia Vance Future of Privacy Forum       Shared Under Creative Commons License Table of Contents Add a header to begin generating the table of contents Download the PDF Introduction Schools have always collected a wide range of data—from enrollment information, to tracking student performance throughout the year, to health and disciplinary records—to allow teachers and school leaders to best serve every student. As all levels of education institutions take advantage of technology, such as vast libraries of resources, learning management systems, and tools that […]

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Disclosing Student Information During School Emergencies: A Primer for Schools

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Disclosing Student Information During School Emergencies: A Primer for Schools December 28, 2018 Chanda Marlowe, Sara Collins, and Amelia Vance Future of Privacy Forum   Shared Under Creative Commons License Schools are responsible for keeping students safe, but they also need to balance safety measures with privacy protections. When emergencies happen, schools may want or be asked to disclose information about students. In doing so, schools must comply with the primary federal student privacy law, the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA). Schools must also avoid sharing information that could stigmatize students, make them feel that they can’t share

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Protecting Privacy of School Directory Information

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Protecting Privacy of School Directory Information December 2018 Amelia Vance Originally published by the National Association of State Boards of Education CC BY-NC 4.0 Students do not have the right to attend school anonymously, but they do have a right to have their information protected and used responsibly by local and state education agencies. State boards can help their states strike this balance. When the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) was first passed in 1974, schools realized that they had a problem: Without ongoing consent from parents (or an applicable FERPA exception), they were unable to ask students

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FERPA 101 For Higher Education

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FERPA 101 For Higher Education October 2018 Sara Collins, Trevor Schmitt, and Amelia Vance Future of Privacy Forum   Shared Under Creative Commons License Overview The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) is a federal law enacted in 1974 that governs information in a student’s education record. The law guarantees, among other things, that an “eligible student” who attends a post-secondary institution has access to their own education record and restricts who else can access, use, and re-disclose student information. FERPA is the primary federal law addressing student data rights and protections. FERPA applies to schools that receive funding

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Dept of Ed: Schools Cannot Require Parents or Students to Waive Their FERPA Rights Through Ed Tech Company’s Terms of Service

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Dept of Ed: Schools Cannot Require Parents or Students to Waive Their FERPA Rights Through Ed Tech Company’s Terms of Service January 20, 2018 Lindsey Barrett and Amelia Vance Future of Privacy Forum   Shared Under Creative Commons License This blog was previously posted on the Future of Privacy Forum blog.  Policymakers, parents, and privacy advocates have long asked whether FERPA is up to the task of protecting student privacy in the 21st century. A just-released letter regarding the Agora Cyber Charter School might signal that a FERPA compliance crack-down – frequently mentioned as their next step after providing extensive guidance by

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Law Enforcement Access to Student Records: A Guide for School Administrators & Ed Tech Service Providers

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Law Enforcement Access to Student Records: A Guide for School Administrators and Ed Tech Service Providers September 2017 Amelia Vance and Sarah Williamson Future of Privacy Forum   Shared Under Creative Commons License Questions about when schools or third-party service providers are allowed to disclose student personal information to law enforcement can be complex. This document is a basic primer on the compliance landscape of data requests to schools and service providers from law enforcement; it is not legal advice. Law enforcement may request data through informal requests, subpoenas, and court orders, among other processes. Schools and service providers should

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