U.S. Rep. Tom Emmer (R-MN) wants the Biden administration to clarify its plans for safeguarding the data privacy of America’s students.
“When our current student data privacy laws were written, concepts like online remote learning were unheard of. This has left children and their family’s data vulnerable, often without their knowledge,” Rep. Emmer said on Monday. “We owe it to our nation’s students to modernize our approach to safeguarding their digital identities.”
The congressman reiterated his concerns in a Jan. 31 letter sent to U.S. Education Secretary Miguel Cardona by pointing out the need for clarity around enforcement of the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), which was enacted in 1974 to provide privacy protections to student education records.
“I have recently learned from conversations with constituents that FERPA enforcement has been inadequate, leaving students and parents with little to no control over the dissemination of internet metadata (search histories, websites viewed, keyword searches, etc.) to third-party vendors,” Rep. Emmer wrote.
And because FERPA was enacted decades before the rise of the internet, Rep. Emmer wrote that one of his major concerns is that FERPA hasn’t been able to keep up with the times.
“Clearly, I am not the only one worried: In July 2021, 14 parents from nine states filed complaints with your department to raise concerns about the student information being gathered and the extent to which it is being shared with third-party vendors,” he wrote. “To my knowledge, they have not received adequate responses.”
To provide such clarity, he requested that the Secretary address the Department of Education’s awareness of student metadata being shared with vendors; whether parents and eligible students are able to opt-out of information sharing; and the department’s approach to update student data privacy protections, according to his letter.