PIPC Resources

What Is Self-Harm Monitoring Technology and How Do Schools Use It

Part I: Background What Is Self-Harm Monitoring Technology and How Do Schools Use It? Schools often adopt self-harm monitoring technology with the best intentions: to help keep students safe and improve their well-being. However, if implemented without due consideration to the significant privacy and equity risks posed to students, these programs may harm the very students that need the most support or protection, while ineffectively fulfilling their intended purpose of preventing self-harm. Before adopting self-harm monitoring technology, schools and districts should understand the risks self-harm monitoring technology can pose to students’ privacy and safety, take thoughtful steps to mitigate those […]

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Introduction: The Privacy and Equity Implications of Using Self-Harm Monitoring Technologies

The Privacy and Equity Implications of Using Self-Harm Monitoring Technologies September 27, 2021 Amelia Vance, Anisha Reddy, Yasamin Sharifi, Jasmine Park, and Sara Collins   CC BY-NC 4.0 Download the PDF Introduction As educators and school leaders return to campus after two years of significant upheaval and loss, many are prioritizing efforts focused on students’ well-being, including ensuring that students receive adequate mental health support. Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, some experts suggest that the stressors associated with the pandemic and learning from home may have impacted students’ mental health, potentially increasing students’ risks of self-harm and suicide.1 Given this increased

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Youth Privacy and Data Protection 101

Youth Privacy and Data Protection 101 April 1, 2021 Jasmine Park and Amelia Vance Future of Privacy Forum   Shared Under Creative Commons License It is estimated that one-third of global internet users are under the age of 18. As digital technologies increasingly mediate nearly all facets of their lives, including their education, young people encounter unique opportunities and risks online. It is imperative to ensure that well-meaning but perhaps rushed efforts to protect youth from risks do not significantly limit their access to valuable opportunities. Rather, these efforts must both protect and empower young people while allowing them to gradually develop

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Teaching privacy and ethical guardrails for the AI imperative in education

Teaching Privacy and Ethical Guardrails for The AI Imperative in Education Evan Selinger & Amelia Vance Originally published by the NSW Department of Education Future EDge, Issue 3 December 2020 Introduction In 1956 computer scientist John McCarthy coined the phrase ‘artificial intelligence’ (AI) to describe ‘the science and engineering of making intelligent machines’ (McCarthy, 2007). Over time, the term has evolved to cover a variety of technologies, including ones widely used in education, from plagiarism detectors to voice-activated virtual assistants leveraged to enhance campus information distribution and classroom pedagogy (Arizona State University, 2018). Contemporary AI discussions are about ‘a variety

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Student Privacy and Special Education: An Educator’s Guide During and After COVID-19

Student Privacy and Special Education: An Educator’s Guide During and After COVID-19 August 04, 2020 Lindsey Barrett and Amelia Vance National Center for Learning Disabilities & Future of Privacy Forum   Shared Under Creative Commons License COVID-19 has disrupted education and has forced schools to pivot quickly to a distance learning approach, which is often virtual. Using virtual learning products comes with concerns about student privacy, including for students receiving special education and related services. Federal privacy laws don’t explicitly address how to handle every situation, but concerns about privacy should not be a barrier to serving students as best

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Student Privacy’s History of Unintended Consequences: Lessons Learned and Key Principles for Student Privacy

IV. LESSONS LEARNED AND KEY PRINCIPLES FOR STUDENT PRIVACY Previously published in the Seton Hall Journal of Legislation and Public Policy IV. LESSONS LEARNED AND KEY PRINCIPLES FOR STUDENT PRIVACY The unintended effects discussed above are emblematic of the challenges that privacy legislation has posed in the last decade, echoing many issues that arose when the U.S. Congress passed FERPA in 1974. For legislators, this history offers more than a cautionary tale; it suggests specific lessons and principles that policymakers can use to change the trajectory of future privacy legislation. For example, some of the student privacy laws were passed hastily

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Student Privacy’s History of Unintended Consequences: Student Privacy in the Modern Era

III. STUDENT PRIVACY IN THE MODERN ERA Previously published in the Seton Hall Journal of Legislation and Public Policy III. STUDENT PRIVACY IN THE MODERN ERA Forty years after FERPA was passed, more than 1,000 bills on student privacy have been introduced in all fifty states since 2013,106 and more than 130 have passed in forty states and Washington, D.C. Like FERPA, most of the laws emerged in response to growing concerns over the increased amount of student data collected but also how stakeholders use, report, and protect this data. Well-publicized data breaches in the private sector (such as at Target

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Student Privacy’s History of Unintended Consequences

Student Privacy’s History of Unintended Consequences June 2020 Amelia Vance and Casey Waughn1   Previously published in the Seton Hall Journal of Legislation and Public Policy I. INTRODUCTION It is difficult to imagine a world in which schools cannot print students’ names on the honor roll or in school playbills; announce student athletes’ names, heights, and weights at the start of a game; and share financial aid information with appropriate institutions to ensure that students can finance their education. Yet, in the months following the enactment of the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) of 1974, and forty years

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FAQs: The Protection of Pupil Rights Amendment

FAQs: The Protection of Pupil Rights Amendment March 27, 2020 David Sallay and Amelia Vance Future of Privacy Forum   Shared Under Creative Commons License This blog is the third in a series about how schools can practically apply student privacy laws. Read the first two blogs about FERPA here and here.  The Protection of Pupil Rights Amendment (PPRA) has been around since the late 1970s and protects students from having to reveal personal information in certain surveys. It is possible you are already familiar with PPRA’s eight protected categories of information and already have the required policies in place to help ensure

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Florida’s School Safety Commission and the “School Safety Portal”

Florida’s School Safety Commission and the “School Safety Portal” October 15, 2019 Sara Collins and Amelia Vance Future of Privacy Forum   Shared Under Creative Commons License Today and tomorrow, the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Public Safety Commission is meeting in Orlando, Florida to go over new draft findings and recommendations following the tragic school shooting in Parkland. One of the policies the Commission has been evaluating is the state’s new ‘Florida School Safety Portal’ and social media monitoring tool. The portal seeks to gather holistic data on students – everything from school records to interactions with social services or law enforcement, in

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