Proposed legislation would protect student data
Update May 1: The student data privacy bill was introduced April 29 after more than a month of delays, following criticism that lawmakers fell short of creating a strong national law. This story was originally reported March 23, 2015.
A student privacy bill long in the works is scheduled to be introduced in Congress March 20, by U.S. Representatives Luke Messer and Jared Polis.
The Student Digital Privacy and Parental Rights Act of 2015 is expected to prohibit companies from selling students’ personal information to third parties, or from using data for non-educational purposes, like marketing.
Khaliah Barnes, director of the Electronic Privacy Information Center’s Student Privacy Project, says there are not enough current restrictions when it comes to student data.
“We’re in, unfortunately, the wild west when it comes to student privacy,” she says. “We’re hopeful the upcoming legislation will correct the current wrongs.”
The proposed bill would not prevent states from passing even tougher laws themselves, making some industry giants worried, though so far 125 companies including Google and Apple have signed the Student Privacy Pledge, vowing, among other things, not to sell student data.
Student data privacy laws around the nation
In 2014, many states considered or passed new legislation protecting student data. You can see which states responded to which issues by clicking on the icons below. You can also click on each state for more details about its laws.
States which have passed or considered legislation restricting cloud-computing services and vendors.
States which have passed or considered legislation restricting the use of student data for marketing
States which have passed or considered legislation restricting how student data is shared.
States which have passed or considered legislation making the data-collection process more transparent.
States which have passed or considered legislation limiting the kind of information that schools and agencies can collect.
Laws:
Bills:
- States with new privacy laws
- States with legislation introduced in 2014
- States where legislation was defeated
- States which rely solely on federal laws
- New laws or legislation restricting cloud-computing services and vendors.
- New laws or legislation restricting the use of student data for marketing
- New laws or legislation restricting how student data is shared.
- New laws or legislation making the data-collection process more transparent.
- New laws or legislation limiting the kind of information that schools and agencies can collect.
Sources: Marketplace research and Data Quality Campaign data
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