Join us this month as we will discuss how to protect student educational data as well as considerations to weigh in deciding whether to pay the ransom for a cyber attack or not.
Tag Archives: FERPA
Beyond Bathrooms: New Guidance Regarding Transgender Students Addresses FERPA Requirements
The U.S. Department of Education and Department of Justice recently weighed in on the obligations of school districts, colleges, and universities to provide civil rights protections for transgender students. On May 13, 2016, the Departments issued a Dear Colleague Letter that summarizes the responsibilities of school districts, colleges, and universities that receive federal financial assistance under the Departments’ interpretation of federal law, including Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 and the Family Education Rights and Privacy Act. Here, we focus on the DCL’s guidance pertinent to compliance with FERPA.
Department of Education Issues “Model Terms of Service” and Other Guidance on Student Privacy Compliance
On February 26, the U.S. Department of Education issued guidance aimed at assisting schools and school districts when considering whether the use of online educational services and mobile applications complies with student privacy laws. The guidance consisted of two main components. First, the Department published a document entitled Protecting Student Privacy While Using Online Educational Services: Model Terms of Service, which evaluates common privacy-related provisions in online Terms of Service and analyzes how they comply with student privacy requirements. Second, the Department produced a user-friendly, 10-minute training video directed to K-12 administrators, teachers, and staff about schools’ privacy obligations when using online educational services and applications. Finally, the guidance encourages school administrators to check the Student Privacy Pledge when considering whether to use online educational services in the classroom.
Department of Education Clarifies Obligations of Schools When Contracting With Online Service Providers
The Department of Education recently released a fourteen-page guidance document that intensifies the pressure on school districts, schools, and higher education institutions to examine and confirm the sufficiency of the procedures they use when engaging a service provider to host or process student data. A recent Hogan Lovells Education and Privacy Alert analyzes this guidance, through which the department has put entities covered by student privacy laws on notice of its expectations regarding their responsibilities when entering into these arrangements. Service providers who store and process student data on behalf of school districts and schools should therefore carefully consider the guidance and how it may affect the market for their services and the contractual demands from their education customers.
Society of Professional Journalists Call for FERPA Reform
The Society of Professional Journalists unanimously has adopted a resolution calling for revision of the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) claiming that schools use FERPA as a shield to prevent disclosure of budget, school safety and performance information.