Protecting student privacy
Dipayan Ghosh and Jim Steyer are correct that we need to ensure that personal data of students isn’t used in harmful ways. But the problem isn’t an absence of laws; it is a lack of determination and resources to enforce them effectively. Since 2013, policymakers in 39 states and the District of Columbia have passed more than 120 new laws protecting student privacy. In addition, federal laws grant enhanced privacy protections to students and their parents. Federal and state laws explicitly ban targeting ads to children without parents’ consent.
It is time for state legislatures to fully fund and enforce the laws they have already passed. In many states, there has never been an enforcement action over student privacy. States should fund training so that every person who interacts with student data knows how to protect it.
Amelia Vance
Washington
Dipayan Ghosh and Jim Steyer are correct that we need to ensure that personal data of students isn’t used in harmful ways. But the problem isn’t an absence of laws; it is a lack of determination and resources to enforce them effectively. Since 2013, policymakers in 39 states and the District of Columbia have passed more than 120 new laws protecting student privacy. In addition, federal laws grant enhanced privacy protections to students and their parents. Federal and state laws explicitly ban targeting ads to children without parents’ consent.
It is time for state legislatures to fully fund and enforce the laws they have already passed. In many states, there has never been an enforcement action over student privacy. States should fund training so that every person who interacts with student data knows how to protect it.
Amelia Vance
Washington
