DEFINING PRIVACY: On April 29, US Representatives Luke Messer (R-IN) and Jared Polis (D-CO) introduced the Student Digital Privacy and Parental Rights Act of 2015, after holding the bill in response to significant criticism from student data privacy advocates in March.
If passed, the bill will prohibit companies from targeting advertising to students or selling a student’s information to a third party, and will require that companies directly disclose to schools what student information they collect and how it will be used. Under the law, providers would be able to use aggregated and de-identified student data. Student data privacy advocates, including Aimee Guidera, CEO of the Data Quality Campaign, and James Steyer, CEO of Common Sense, have offered their support for the proposed bill.
