EPIC sues Dept of Ed for violating students' privacy rights. Database owned by Rupert Murdoch.

[reACTIONary]

37. I think there are several valid issues...

Last edited Fri Mar 22, 2013, 09:07 PM - Edit history (2)

...and several reasonable opinions with respect to them.

One issue is the FERPA rule changes. The WaPo article mentions that the regulations were changed to allow sharing of information with non-academic government departments. It is also stated that student data can be shared by local officials with private companies and foundations if they are doing work for the school to achieve a public purpose.

This is certainly a valid issue. On the one hand, there is a concrete, specific reason for the change: allowing for "the effective use of data in statewide longitudinal data systems (SLDS) as envisioned in the America Creating Opportunities to Meaningfully Promote Excellence in Technology, Education, and Science Act (COMPETES Act) and furthermore supported under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA). Improved access to data contained within an SLDS will facilitate States’ ability to evaluate education programs, to build upon what works and discard what does not, to increase accountability and transparency, and to contribute to a culture of innovation and continuous improvement in education."

On the other hand is the concern that information about specific students could be accidentally or maliciously released or pilfered. That is a real, perhaps small, possibility, and there is definitely a trade-off between the benefit from the use of the data to improve education for our children and the danger of accidental or malicious release.

This is a concern for any data system, educational or not. Credit scoring systems, government tax records, medical records, etc., etc. An opinion one way or the other in any specific case may be reasonable, and some folks are more risk averse than others. I happen to think the advantages of using this data for the betterment of our education system and our children out weighs the possibility that the data may be misused. I don't think the risk of that happening is all that great and I think the possibilities for improving our educational system are real.

Just my opinion.