Student Data Privacy Advocates

CLOSING A FERPA LOOPHOLE: As students head back to class, privacy advocate Sheila Kaplan is urging parents to demand that schools keep their children’s personal information private. Federal privacy law, known as FERPA, gives schools the right to share “directory information” with third parties, including for-profit companies. That information can include a child’s name, address, phone number, date and place of birth, awards, extracurricular activities and even height, weight and student ID number. Schools can also share student photos. But parents have the right to opt out — as long as they do it in writing. Kaplan has run an Opt Out campaign [http://bit.ly/1qqmu7t] for the last few years; she recently ramped it up with a new video. Take a look: http://bit.ly/1q0BH1F.

— Still have FERPA questions? The Future of Privacy Forum today unveils a website designed to be a comprehensive resource for parents, educators, entrepreneurs and policy makers. The site, sponsored by a host of ed-tech companies, explains privacy laws and explores data management issues. Check it out: http://bit.ly/YzXPH4.