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On Monday, two Representatives, one a Democrat, the other a Republican, were putting final touches on a proposed new Student Digital Privacy and Parental Rights Act, thus joining the White House in efforts to update federal data privacy law. Almost immediately after a draft of the legislation began to circulate Monday, some people said it did not alleviate all of the concerns.
Generally speaking, the proposal would limit the ability of companies to tailor marketing or advertisements to students based on profiles created in school, according to a story Monday in The New York Times. The legislation is co-sponsored by Rep. Jared Polis, a Democrat from Colorado, and Rep. Luke Messer, a Republican from Indiana; it is expected to be introduced in the House of Representatives this week.
Separately, Sen. Richard Blumenthal, a Democrat from Connecticut, is also expected to propose legislation on this topic. His spokesman told me Monday that it has not been introduced yet.
The proposed bills arrive as more states legislators are proposing laws to set parameters for digital learning platforms that make use of student data. As I reported last week, more than 30 organizations partnered to publish new “Student Data Principles,” which advocates say explain the way student information can be used responsibly, to help improve student outcomes.
Some say technology and the effective use of data are keys to improving academic outcomes. To see an example, read “A tiny school in the Ozarks powered a nationally acclaimed turnaround with a mix of technology and trust,” a column published recently at The Hechinger Report. And in my travels I’ve talked to many school leaders and teachers who say they figured out how to use the new tools in ways that protect student information. Kerry Gallagher, a history teacher at Reading Memorial High School in Reading, Massachusetts, told me in an interview earlier this month about an easy solution others might replicate. Students do not use their real names to log in to online programs. They use a pseudonym known to their teacher.
For more about student data privacy and various solutions proposed for addressing concerns about it, follow my Blended Learning Newsletter.
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