As schools adopt new, artificial-intelligence (AI)-enabled educational technology, parents deserve transparent notice, consent methods, and assurance that student data is safeguarded, according to U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA).
On Oct. 28, the senator sponsored the Learning Innovation and Family Empowerment (LIFE) with AI Act, S. 3063, which would establish a parent-centered framework to safeguard student data privacy, enhance transparency, and encourage the responsible and optional use of AI in K-12 personalized learning.
“AI holds enormous potential to meet children’ s unique learning needs,” Sen. Cassidy said on Tuesday. “As AI increasingly gets intertwined with students’ education, the LIFE Act empowers parents to ensure their children are protected from potential harm.”
If enacted, S. 3063 would create the federal “Golden Seal of Excellence in Student Data Privacy,” which would be awarded to schools and districts that implement better parental consent systems and year-round opt-out tools. The bill also would permit parents the opportunity to view elements of third-party ed-tech contracts before they are executed, according to a one-page bill summary provided by Sen. Cassidy’s staff.
Additionally, S. 3063 would protect students from facial recognition risks by prohibiting the use of student photos to train facial recognition AI without prior parental consent and restricting contracts with yearbook vendors that use facial recognition without disclosure and opt-in.
An enacted bill also would establish a federal list of noncompliant third-party vendors following investigation and appeal, with a five-year listing period for violations tied to student data privacy requirements, the summary says.
The bill also would direct the creation of evidence-based training resources and materials to aid teachers in using AI well in their classrooms, and update Title II-A professional development funds’ allowable uses to apply to AI and emerging technologies explicitly, among several other provisions.
The legislation, which is supported by Parents Defending Education Action, is under consideration by the U.S. Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, which is chaired by Sen. Cassidy.