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<i>Commentary</i> New Laws Needed To Protect Student Data

By Bradley S. Shear
January 31, 2014

Students and schools around the country are utilizing new digital technologies in ways many people did not imagine at the turn of the century ' and those technologies offer great promise. Just 10 years ago, terms like “big data,” “the cloud,” “data mining” and “social media” were not well known by students, parents or school officials. To lower costs and to help our students learn more effectively, thousands of schools across the country have adopted new digital technologies. Unfortunately, the current legal framework designed to protect student privacy and safety has not kept up with the rapid advancements that have been created by the Digital Age.

The federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) is the main federal law that protects student educational records. This law was initially enacted in 1974 and has been amended multiple times by Congress; the last time being in 2001 before the widespread adoption of cloud computing and other digital platforms in schools. See , “Legislative History of Major FERPA Provisions,” ED.gov. While the statute hasn't been amended in more than 10 years, the rules that the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) uses to implement FERPA have been more recently updated. Despite these revisions, some public interest groups such as the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) allege that FERPA's rule changes undermine privacy safeguards set out in the statute and unnecessarily exposes students to new privacy risks. See, “Comments of Electronic Privacy Information Center to the Department of Education,” May 23, 2011, EPIC.org.

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