Data Privacy in Education

ebook Complying with FERPA and State Laws

By Cody Venzke

cover image of Data Privacy in Education

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No one can deny the increasing importance of data in education over the last quarter century. Although the COVID-19 pandemic underscored the critical role of technology in education, education professionals have long used student data to assess students' progress and needs, measure school effectiveness, connect students with key services and benefits, and ensure that the school environment is safe and healthy. The importance of student data to the many functions of schools and educational institutions means that it must be allowed to both flow among service providers for students and be protected.

This publication is designed for legal professionals working closely with schools and other educational institutions. Thus, it is organized around the many functions that schools must fulfil, including teaching and learning, nutrition, protecting children's health and safety, connecting student with employment and educational opportunities, conducting educational research, and reporting to other governmental institutions. Functional areas include:

  • Relationships with parents, including how schools may verify parents' identities online and in person, what notices they must be given, and what rights parents have under state and federal law.
  • Rights that students are entitled to exercise, how those rights evolve as students age, and how they interact with the rights of parents and the authority of educational institutions.
  • Sharing student data within the school system and with state educational agencies, including statewide longitudinal data systems
  • Navigating disclosures to other governmental entities when providing benefits under programs for child nutrition, migrant students, foster children, and broadband access.
  • Reporting child abuse and student immunizations, including addressing conflicts between FERPA and state legal mandates.
  • Protecting student privacy while also providing healthcare services to students, including interactions between FERPA and the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA).
  • Law enforcement access to student records and how student privacy rules apply when addressing specific offenses like truancy, drug abuse, and sexual harassment — including interactions with Title IX and the Cleary Act.
  • How to protect student privacy in an age of education technology.
  • Additional privacy protections guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution and civil rights laws.

    Within each functional area, this publication:

  • Describes FERPA's requirements, including how the U.S. Department of Education, courts, or other enforcement authorities have interpreted ambiguities in the statute
  • Analyzes how FERPA interacts with other laws and program requirements, such as civil rights requirements, the Every Student Succeeds Act, HIPAA, the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act, the National School Lunch Program, the E-Rate Program, and (of course) the U.S. Constitution.
  • Highlights still unresolved questions around FERPA and other laws, and how institutions may best proceed considering those ambiguities.
  • Dispels myths and misconceptions about student privacy.

    This publication recognizes that neither FERPA alone nor federal laws generally are the sole, or even the primary, laws governing education. Thus, the publication includes an analysis of student privacy laws for all U.S. states, including the District of Columbia.

  • Data Privacy in Education