"I agree, but do I know? Privacy and student data" by Rigele Abilock and Debbie Abilock
- Erin Andreassi
- Mar 10, 2022
- 2 min read
Image by Siora Photography on Unsplash.
This article provides an overview of privacy and student data issues in school libraries, as school districts are quick to adopt online services without evaluation privacy protections for their students' data. The questions that the article asks school librarians to consider can be applied to community college librarians as well.
Community college librarians should be aware of the privacy issues that school librarians are facing since community colleges often collaborate with local high schools. Additionally, community college librarians can use this source to support high school librarians develop their students' digital literacy skills before going to college.
Major points from the article include:
Once a school representative clicks "I agree" to a vendor's terms and conditions (ToS), the school has a accepted those terms EVEN IF those terms are not in alignment with the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), Protection of Pupil Rights Amendment (PPRA), and additional federal and state laws (p. 14).
FERPA still allows school officials, including outsourced contractors, to disclose certain student data to vendors, contractors, nonprofits and businesses (p. 17).
The Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) regulates online vendors directly by enforcing stricter requirements for commercial vendors that seek to "collect, use, or disclose the personally identifiable information of children under thirteen" (p. 17).
There is now an industry that seeks to help schools make "safe" decisions about their educational products. Companies such as Common Sense Media, Google, IKeepSafe, and Clever still have their own agendas and cannot provide a solution that will magically suit every unique school with its own culture, teaching style and community values (18).
School librarians should include privacy and TOS information about the products the schools use on their library's website (18).
"Parental consent should be an informed consent, not an empty formality" (18).
Seek mentors in your district and talk about these issues in meetings and workshops (18).
Use Ghostery to view ads and trackers on a website and choose to block them (19).
Privacy is essential to democracy because the more that companies track and use personal data, the more they can influence behavior "for their own gain or for some paternalistic goal" (20).
Lesson idea: Ask your students to think about a digital tool that was implemented at their K-12 school, and ask them to research the privacy policy and ToS of the company that made that tool. Ask your students:
How easy or difficult was it to find this information?
If you were able to find this information, read the full privacy policy and ToS - would you sign a contract with this vendor? Why or why not?
Do you think parents should be given a greater role in protecting their children's privacy at school? Why or why not?
Questions for Librarians:
How does FERPA and PPRA impact or not impact your work in the library?
Do you have mentors in your local community to talk about these issues with? If not, how can you expand your network?
Abilock, Rigele, and Debbie Abilock. "I agree, but do I know? Privacy
and student data." Knowledge Quest 44, no. 4 (2016): Gale
Academic OneFile. https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A447286167/AONE?
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