Federal Laws

CIPA/COPPA/FERPA Simplified

These are the laws and policies that help to protect our students online that many teachers are not aware of. Below is an overview of each law along with some resources to better understand them.

Child Internet Protection Act - CIPA

The district/school is required by CIPA to have technology measures and policies in place that protect students from harmful materials including those that are obscene and pornographic. Any harmful content contained from inappropriate sites will be filtered. http://fcc.gov/cgb/consumerfacts/cipa.html

Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act - COPPA

COPPA applies to commercial companies and limits their ability to collect personal information from children under 13. By default, Google advertising is turned off for Apps for Education users. No personal student information is collected for commercial purposes. The school’s use of student information is solely for education purposes. http://www.ftc.gov/privacy/coppafaqs.shtm

• Video overview

Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act - FERPA

FERPA protects the privacy of student education records and gives parents the right to review student records. Under FERPA, schools may disclose directory information (name, phone, address, grade level, etc…) but parents may request that the school not disclose this information for students under the age of 18. http://www2.ed.gov/policy/gen/guid/fpco/ferpa

• The school will not publish confidential education records (grades, student ID #, etc) for public viewing on the Internet. The school may publish student work and photos for public viewing but will not publish student last names or other personally identifiable information.
• Parents may request that photos, names and general directory information about their children not be published. Parents have the right at any time to investigate the contents of their child’s email or web tools.
• Video overview

https://insidetheclassroomoutsidethebox.wordpress.com/2013/12/01/cipa-coppa-ferpa-oh-my/