Congress on Data Privacy

Members of two key Congressional subcommitees appeared divided on the best way to protect student privacy.
Rep. Todd Rokita indicated he was not inclined to pursue federal legislation. “State by state is still the way to go on this,” he said, hailing a new privacy policy developed by Idaho.
But other members emphasized their deep concern about gaps in FERPA and other federal privacy laws.
“Nobody wants to try to inhibit [innovation], but I come to this from the perspective of us dealing with issues like the NSA,” said Rep. Patrick Meehan (R-Pa.). He spoke of the the public’s wariness of privacy breeches — and his own fear that private companies collecting intimate student data “know a lot more about my child than I know.”
Meehan said he feared that student profiles could persist on the cloud indefinitely or be exploited for commercial gain. He asked several questions about loopholes that might need closing.
Meanwhile, Rep. Phil Roe expressed skepticism about the software industry’s enormous enthusiasm for data mining as the key to improving education.
“We cured polio and put a man on the moon without Big Data,” Roe said. “It’s teachers,” he said, who make all the difference in the classroom.

They spoke at a joint hearing of the Committee on Education and the Workforce’s Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Elementary and Secondary Education and the Committee on Homeland Security’s Subcommittee on Cybersecurity, Infrastructure Protection and Security Technologies.