Protecting students from harm, including identity theft, harassment, and unauthorized data collection, are critical concerns. As an organization, we are legally and ethically bound to protect student safety and student information, including student work.
Student Data Privacy is critically important when using technology with students. It is our job, as educators, to protect the data of our students and ensure that, if our district were ever to experience a data breach, our students' personal information would be protected.
As a Google for Education district, our students are permitted to use all Google tools (docs, slides, forms, etc.). Anything beyond the G-Suite tools, however, is considered a Third-party Resource, and the district must monitor the use of these resources very carefully. Our students under the age of 13 are of particular concern, but it is our duty to protect the data of all BSD7 students.
BSD7 belongs to the Student Data Privacy Consortium (SDPC), and we adhere to their guidelines regarding the use of all third-party resources. The database in this consortium is our first stop to see if a third-party resource has been approved.
Click HERE to read. This is a very helpful summary of student data privacy and how it relates to our use of technology with students.
Understanding FERPA and other tips. Click here.
Student data includes a range of personal information, called personally identifiable information (PII). This includes identifiers such as name, age, gender, email address, physical location, etc. FERPA, the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, is a Federal law that protects the privacy of student education records and applies to all schools that receive funding from the U.S. Department of Education. You may also have heard of COPPA, the Children's Online Privacy and Protection Act, which protects students under the age of 13. While many (but not all) educational websites, may adhere to FERPA and COPPA, many states and districts require additional safety measures to protect student PII.