SECURITY
EDUCATORS & ED-TECH: STEWARDS OF PRIVACY Holly Hawkins
T
he use of educational technology is growing at an astounding rate in the U.S. and that growth raises privacy concerns from students, parents, teachers, and administrators regarding the collection and use of their data. In response to these concerns, a complex legal landscape is unfolding, including the passing of state-specific student data privacy laws that join the long-standing federal laws: the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) and the Family Education Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA).
As the legal landscape accelerates to catch up with the growth of technology use within schools, an enormous burden is being placed on both educators and ed-tech companies to be responsible stewards of student data. Schools bear the responsibility to ensure that they are using compliant educational technology and, in turn, ed-tech companies must deliver products and services that comply with student data privacy laws. This is no easy task. Educators: Protecting Student Data Educators working
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to enhance the learning environment by introducing educational technology and learning resources to students and schools are uniquely positioned to help improve student data privacy and security. In order to do so, there are three steps to take: STEP 1: EDUCATE THE INDIVIDUALS IN THE ORGANIZATION ON: • How digital platforms access and use information • How digital platforms handle security and privacy • Importance of privacy
practices with student information • Risks of non-compliance with student data practices, privacy law, and policy This first step will take the longest to accomplish, but is also extremely important. Because most people do not understand how digital privacy works, nor how digital data is stored and used, the first step is to teach them. Through workshops, presentations or training seminars, the organization has to educate all of its members about the use of digital platforms in WWW.SEENMAGAZINE.US
