This Week in Student Privacy: 6/30
Obama Administration Further Dials Back College Rating Plan
In a recent blog post, the U.S. Department of Education stated that the President’s effort to “rate colleges based on affordability and quality” “will be more about making information available to the public to allow students and parents to make better informed decisions as opposed to placing the White House’s judgment on which schools are good and which aren't.” In the blog post, Deputy Under Secretary and Acting Assistant Secretary for Postsecondary Education Jamienne Studley said that “[w]hile no single measure is perfect, and many important elements of education cannot be captured by quantitative metrics, cultivating and releasing data about performance drives the conversation forward to make sure colleges are focused on access, affordability and students’ outcomes.” She adds that “[b]y providing a wealth of data – including many important metrics that have not been published before – students and families can make informed comparisons and choices based on the criteria most important to them.” For more: Wall Street Journal and ED.gov.
Articles/Resources
- The Clarion Ledger -- Mississippi School accidentally posted students’ information online: “MDE: School district website contained students’ personal info”
- In Wyoming, “UW Students’ Email Privacy at Risk, Legislators say” (Wyoming Public Media Statewide Network) but soon may no longer be considered public record as “Lawmakers consider UW student privacy.” (Star Herald)
- Fox Business: “What Are the Data Breach Notification Laws in Your State?”
- iHealthBeat on protecting student medical records: “University of Oregon Sexual Assault Case Sheds Light on Medical Privacy Limitations”
- Chalkbeat -- NYC DoE relaxes security measures for online accounts: “Parents can now sign up for city’s new student data portal from home”
- Dispatch -- Ohio school district data scandal continues as: “4th administrator in Columbus schools data scandal to accept plea deal”
- NASDTEC Model Code of Ethics heavily considers EdTech!
- The Intercept on Privacy vs. Big Data: “No Child Left Un-Mined? Student Privacy at Risk in the Age of Big Data”
This update was compiled by Jeremiah Milbauer, with help from Paulina Haduong and Hannah Offer. Jeremiah is a rising freshman at the University of Chicago and an intern for the Student Privacy Initiative. Hannah is a rising freshman at Yale University.