Government and education technology entities are moving ahead with efforts to collect more and more sensitive personally identifiable information (PII) on America’s children and their families. Here is an update on some...
Tag - student privacy
Karen R. Effrem, MD
Senate GOP’s “School Safety” Bill Would Imperil Student Privacy, Expand Police State
In the midst of the impeachment charade, Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) and a number of his GOP colleagues introduced a bill to address mass shootings. However, privacy groups, particularly those who advocate for student...
Lisa Hudson
Congress to Reconsider Massive College Student Data Grab
As Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), the powerful chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, approaches retirement in 2020, he and Congress are making one last push to reauthorize the...
More Schools Discard Student Privacy in Elusive Quest for Safety
As efforts increase to protect school safety in the wake of high-profile school shootings like those in Parkland and Sandy Hook, so do data collection efforts by states and schools that significantly undermine student...
Parents Beware: “School Climate Surveys” Pose Many Threats to Students
A recent article by Joy Pullmann in The Federalist demonstrates just how nosy and invasive “school climate surveys” have become. These surveys are now a cornerstone of the implementation of social-emotional...
Lawmakers Still Pushing “Personalized Learning” Despite Huge Problems
The corporate technology push of machine-based skills training continues to march across the nation. This effort goes by the names such as “competency-based education” (CBE), “personalized...
Invasive International Survey Targeting Pre-K Students Is Coming to U.S.
Not apparently content with the extent of invasive personality profiling discussed last year, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) is expanding it psychological profiling to 5,000 young...
New Study Shows Dangers and Ineffectiveness of “Social-Emotional Learning”
The Pioneer Institute, a national leader in the fight against Common Core and other horrible corporatist and global education reform ideas, today released a new study titled “Social-Emotional Learning: K–12...
Multiple States Seek to Expand Invasive Mental Health Screening in Schools
In the wake of multiple horrific school shootings — particularly the Parkland, Fla., massacre where 17 people were murdered by a student long-known to have mental issues — states all over the nation have...
Anti-Privacy Database Bill Set to Become Law without Trump Veto
HR 4174, the privacy-crushing de facto national database bill discussed here earlier this week and recently at Townhall, will become law as early as tomorrow, January 12th, without a presidential veto. Economic and...
4 Important Takeaways from the Federal School Safety Report
The Federal Commission on School Safety released their final report this past week. Given its sweeping scope, the report naturally contained many recommendations that were seen as controversial, regardless of one’s...
FBI Warns of Grave Cyber Security Threat to Students from School Tech
Finally! Although the horse may be long out of the barn, the FBI should nevertheless be commended for issuing this warning about the dangers of education technology and cyber security threats for students and their...
Students’ Privacy Under Serious Threat in Era of School Shootings
As the number of school shootings increase, social media and mental health data are becoming very hot commodities. The federal School Safety Commission talked about how data sharing can be improved to prevent school...
Texas School Safety “Action Plan” Contains More Problems than Solutions
After yet another tragic school shooting — this time in Santa Fe, Texas, resulting in the deaths of eight students and two teachers — Texas has followed the example of Florida and proposed a plan that vastly...
6 Key Takeaways from Congress’ Hearing on Protecting Student Data
Yesterday, the U.S. House Education and Workforce Committee held a hearing titled, “Protecting Privacy, Promoting Data Security: Exploring How Schools and States Keep Data Safe.” Here are some key takeaways: 1.) More...
Privacy Alert: Will China Soon Be Using Big Data to Influence U.S. Students?
This article was originally posted at The Federalist. The recent Facebook controversy focused Americans’ attention on the dangers of uncontrolled access to and use of individual online data. But as a nation we have a...
Jane Robbins
Florida Seeks to Expand Ineffective Mental Health Screening in Schools
As discussed a few weeks ago in this space, the state of Texas is ramping up its school-based mental health screening and research using students as guinea pigs. And as predicted after the Parkland, Fla., school...
Over 100 Grassroots Leaders to Congress: Protect Students’ Privacy!
This week, the American Principles Project, Education Liberty Watch, and Eagle Forum, along with leaders from more than 100 organizations both nationally and in 31 states, called on Congress to rewrite the Family...
Parents Beware: Mental Screening of Students Ramps Up in Texas
While federal, state, and local officials are trying to improve student safety in the wake of the tragic Parkland, Fla., school shooting, the heightened concern over student mental health has greatly increased efforts...