Since its back to school time, I thought it would be productive to discuss some digital privacy issues that parents and students should be thinking about. During this time of the year, student privacy is hot because back to school means filling out Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) forms. I filled one out over the weekend and I thought about what type of information I want to keep private and what was best for the school to share about my child (and our family) with other parents and the public. For each parent or guardian, this is a personal decision and there are no wrong answers. What may work for one family may not work for others.
On another note, be careful about what information you post about your children on various social media platforms. In particular, be mindful that neither Facebook nor Google are "friends" of children's privacy. Last year, it was uncovered in federal court that Google was scanning student emails for advertising purposes and I witnessed both Facebook and Google lobbying against stronger student digital data privacy laws in the state of Maryland. With Facebook's new found interest in the education market, parents should be particularly leery about allowing their children's data to be "friends" with Facebook's data mining machine.
The bottom line is that parents should discuss these and other digital privacy issues with their children as soon as they start utilizing digital devices. Its never too early to educate your kids about the virtual world that will affect their physical world.
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