GEM 3 Cyber Law by Aimee M. Bissonette Chapter 4 Privacy and Security

This chapter focuses on the privacy of students.  Information on students is obtained, stored, and accessed electronically on computers.  Other staff members can often obtain information on any student in the school easily through this system.  Another concern is student information posted on Websites that can be accessed by anybody.  This chapter talks about the privacy law, records storage and retention, information sharing among staff, student self-disclosure, and the schools role in addressing privacy concerns.

The privacy law that student privacy is based on is the Family Education Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) of 1974.  This law dictates how schools can use, store, and disseminate students educational records electronically and who they can allow access to these records.  Schools must notify parents and obtain consent from parents before posting or disclosing private information about students where other people can see it.

This law also affects how schools school and retain records because students and parents must have access to this information if they choose to see it.  Schools are required to provide this information if asked so they must have ways so that the students and parents can easily access the information.  If schools choose to use electronic resources to keep these kinds of records they need to find an adequate way to back up these records in case they are lost.

It continues on to talk about information sharing among staff.  Most teachers understand their limitations on sharing student information with people outside of the school but are not as aware of their limitations within the school.  Teachers are not allowed to share student information with other teachers or staff members.  The other staff members have no legal rights to this information, even grades, so it is not legal for teachers to share this information even within the school community.

Another concern is student self-disclosure.  Many students will disclose personal information online through surveys, contests, and games.  Some sites require parental permission but only for children 13 yrs. old and younger.  Most students do not understand that these sites lead to marketing schemes or even possibly identify theft.  This information on chat rooms can lead to the students talking to people on line that may cause them harm.  This section concludes by discussing the formation of the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPA) whose purpose is to police websites directed to children.

Finally, the chapter defines the school's role in addressing privacy concerns.  It stress's the importance of school formulating plans to address inappropriate disclosure of information by the school, information sharing among teachers and staff, and student self-disclosure.  The inappropriate disclosure of information by the school can be addressed by strictly following the FERPA's guidelines by getting consent from the parents right at the beginning of the year.  Another way to address this is by drafting policies related to disclosure and giving the  parents the opportunity to opt out of this policy.  To guard against information sharing among teachers and staff the school can educate its teachers on the policies of FERPA.  The school can also have its IT department install password-protected screen savers so that other teachers can not access each others information about their students.  Teachers can also be educated on how to send communications with limited student information.  To prevent student self-disclosure students need to be educated about the risks and dangers of disclosing their personal information on line.