U.S. Student Digital Data Privacy and Parental Rights Act of 2015 Introduced

On April 29, 2015, Representatives Luke Messer and Jared Polis introduced the bipartisan Student Digital Privacy and Parental Rights Act of 2015.  According to The New York Times, "the bill would prohibit operators of websites, apps and other online services for kindergartners through 12th graders from knowingly selling students’ personal information to third parties; from using or disclosing students’ personal information to tailor advertising to them; and from creating personal profiles of students unless it is for a school-related purpose."  

The legislation is modeled after California's SB 1177, (the "Student Online Personal Information Protection Act") which Education Week hailed as a "landmark" student data privacy law.  The federal Student Digital Privacy and Parental Act of 2015 is a positive piece of legislation that would help better protect the personal privacy and safety of students around the country.  The fact that some members of the ed-tech industry are wary of the bill demonstrates the potential effectiveness of the legislation.

This bill is sorely needed because as Education Week reported last year, some ed-tech vendors such as Google have been caught intentionally misleading parents about their data mining and privacy practices.  For example, exactly 1 year ago today, Google promised to stop scanning student emails and other digital content for advertising purposes.

Unfortunately, Google's promise to better protect personal student data has fallen woefully short since its troubling consumer privacy policy still covers its education offerings and this policy clearly allows it to data mine and profile students on its Google Apps For Education platform.  For example, Google's promise to stop data mining students does not extend to Google + or YouTube since neither platform is considered a  Google Apps "Core Service".   

A former IT policy director at Cornell recently authored an eye opening research paper about Google's troubling profiling and data mining practices which is a must read for school administrators, parents, and educators.  Unfortunately, Google is not the only ed-tech company with weak privacy policies and practices.  Politico and others have also called out Khan Academy for its data mining and profiling practices of students.

Earlier this year, I advocated for my home state of Maryland to enact a similar student privacy bill which was also modeled after California's SB 1177.  I was very troubled to witness Facebook and Google (here is a link to the hearing where you will see that the representatives of these companies were actively trying to thwart passage of robust student privacy protections) advocate for amendments to gut the bill's privacy protections for our children. 
  
My hope is that Facebook, Google, etc... realize that their continued refusal to accept appropriate limits on student data collection, processing, and usage will continue to make parents suspicious about their motives for providing educational technology tools.  These companies are two of the largest advertising entities in the world and their actions so far clearly demonstrate that they want access to personal student data for marketing purposes.

The following national education groups have already voiced support for the federal Student Digital Data Privacy and Parental Rights Act of 2015:

•  AASA, the School Superintendents Association
• International Society for Technology in Education
• National Association of Elementary School Principals
• National Association of Secondary School Principals
• National Education Association
• National PTA
• State Educational Technology Directors Association

along with Common Sense Media which has worked with state and federal lawmakers around the country to enact stronger student privacy laws.  On the ed-tech side, Education Week reported that Microsoft voiced its support by stating "that it [the bill] will help build public trust that vendors are adequately protecting and appropriately using student information".

Its time for the entire ed-tech industry to support the Student Digital Data Privacy and Parental Rights Act of 2015.  Embracing enhanced digital privacy protections for our students will signal to parents that the industry can be trusted to protect our children's personal information.

As a parent, I want my children to be able to utilize the latest and greatest digital education platforms; however, until stronger privacy laws are enacted I have little confidence that all school technology vendors will make my children's personal privacy and safety a priority.  Therefore, I challenge Facebook, Google, and every other ed-tech company and organization that advocated to weaken Maryland's Student Data Privacy Act of 2015 to do the right thing and support this bill as drafted.     

UPDATE May 1, 2015:  The White House has announced that it supports the new bill.  In a blog post, The White House stated: "[w]e are pleased to see Representatives Luke Messer (R-IN) and Jared Polis (D-CO) answer the President’s State of the Union call to enact new protections for K-12 students’ data to ensure that classrooms can embrace technology with confidence.

Introduced yesterday, The Student Digital Privacy and Parental Rights Act is an important bipartisan step, building upon existing momentum from industry leaders committed to ensuring educational data is not misused by providers or third parties, and carrying the strong endorsement of privacy advocates, the private sector, and associations representing parents and educators."  

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