Advice for schools on how to do a better job protecting the data privacy of students and teachers is outlined in a report by the Parent Coalition for Student Privacy and The Badass Teachers Association.
The “Educator Toolkit for Teacher and Student Privacy: A Practical Guide for Protecting Personal Data” explains federal student privacy laws and informs educators why teacher and student data are “at risk.” It also recommends limiting social media use in school, advocating for stronger privacy protections, and evaluating the data privacy features of ed-tech products or services thoroughly before adopting them.
The advocacy organizations conducted an online survey and focus groups, and found that most teachers feel “forced” to implement ed-tech products that gather and use data in ways they don’t understand, according to the press release. More than half the teachers surveyed also said they had insufficient training in data privacy.
