Dive Brief:
- Parents may not trust the safety of their children’s personally identifiable information that is increasingly collected by schools so educators must highlight their commitment to student privacy and data security.
- In a report about these concerns, West Corporation’s Education group highlights the federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, or FERPA, as the long-standing law that governs family access to and privacy rights of educational records, and as more schools shift their data from paper to the cloud, some states have added their own regulations.
- Organizations serving schools have also developed new trainings to help schools implement best practices when it comes to student privacy and data security, and West cites a lack of awareness and understanding as the foundation of many parent concerns.
Dive Insight:
In its report, West’s Education group outlines nine best practices for schools to consider. First, complying with laws and regulations is the bare minimum schools should be doing to develop school norms and a culture that is safe with data. Schools should conduct an internal assessment to figure out where they need work, develop new governance and accountability systems to create concrete processes for safeguarding student data, and be transparent and engaged with parents throughout the process, giving them information about their rights and access to data. Schools should understand data security is a key element of student privacy, they should be careful about the data third-party vendors can access and how, take the time to train staff on best practices, and keep students in the loop about their own responsibilities.
