Using Student Data Essential for Research that Empower Students
In our nation’s schools, we have seen widespread use of zero tolerance policies that lead to suspension, expulsion, and other extreme disciplinary measures. Do these policies work or do they cause more harm than good?
Thanks to research that studied student data over time, we now know that these procedures are not effective in preventing future misbehavior nor improving student outcomes.
Without studies that looked at this issue and others, our policies and education practices would be lacking key insights.
In Huffington Post Education, Jules Polonetsky writes about “Making a Digital Difference in the Classroom With Data,”. Jules reviews a recent FPF report written by NYU academic Elana Zeide which summarized an extensive collection of research studies that relied on student data to help gain insights used to improve student education.
EU-US Privacy Shield Gets Nuanced Review by EU Privacy Regulators
On April 13, 2016, the Article 29 Working Party (Working Party) released its review of the EU-US Privacy Shield (Privacy Shield), the proposed new framework for US companies to transfer data from the EU to the US. The review of the Working Party was nuanced, giving strong credit for improvements by the Privacy Shield over the previous Safe Harbor agreement for commercial uses of data and praising new protections related to government surveillance. But the Working Party also cited various issues of concern that it wants to see addressed.
The Working Party recognized that some of the issues raised might be addressed in a future review of the Privacy Shield after the new GDPR is in place or after EU Court decisions inform the appropriate limits on bulk collection of data and surveillance. Other issues might be addressed by documents that more clearly explain the Privacy Shield or by a new glossary that explains Privacy Shield key terminology.
The Working Party also pointed out some areas where important EU concepts are not in their view captured in the Privacy Shield, such as limits on data retention, rights to object to automated processing and more.
EU Commission spokesman Christian Wigand reacted to the review saying “EU Data Protection Authorities welcome significant improvements to Privacy Shield. We aim for adoption in June.”
“While policymakers and regulators debate the next steps on Privacy Shield, they should keep in mind who is most impacted by uncertainty about EU-US data flows, stated FPF CEO Jules Polonetsky. “51% of the companies in Safe Harbor were there to transfer the human resources data of EU employees to the US, for payroll, promotions and bonuses.”
A previous FPF study also revealed that Safe Harbor included 152 companies who are headquartered or co-headquartered in European countries, which span across a wide range of industries and countries.
Click here to view the Working Party’s full opinion.
May 10th Event: The Higher Education Privacy Conference
The HEPC is one-day event that focuses on privacy and information management in higher education. The event consists of a combination of speakers and smaller breakout discussion groups to foster interactivity and engagement. Participants include higher education CIOs, security professionals, privacy professionals, compliance professionals, and general counsel. Also participating are key individuals from industry, law firms, associations, and government regulatory agencies.
The National Network to End Domestic Violence Discusses Protecting Victim Privacy While Holding Offenders Accountable
Future of Privacy Forum Advisory Board member Cindy Southworth, Executive Vice President and Founder of the Safety Net Technology Project at the National Network to End Domestic Violence (NNEDV), shared a post we thought was important. In its article, “Smartphone Encryption: Protecting Victim Privacy While Holding Offenders Accountable,” NNEDV recognizes the significance of smartphone encryption in the ability for law enforcement to hold offenders accountable, but also states that smartphone encryption does not prevent law enforcement from doing an investigation of technology-facilitated domestic violence, sexual assault, and stalking.
NNEDV points out that in most cases, it is possible for law enforcement to successfully investigate and build a domestic violence and sexual assault case without needing the perpetrator’s smartphone. It is explained that evidence of harassment via emails, texts, or social media will also exist on other technology platforms. Thus, access to the smartphone is not required.
Essentially, NNEDV contends that the issue of smartphone encryption comes down to balancing victim privacy and offender accountability. It believes that both are equally important, but neither should be compromised for the other. NNEDV suggests that instead of finding waysto get around smartphone encryption, law enforcement agencies deserve and need far more resources to investigate crimes facilitated through technology.
FPF Hires Director of Communications – Melanie Bates
We are delighted to welcome Melanie Bates to the Future of Privacy Forum (FPF) as of April 11, 2016 as our new Director of Communications. In this new position, Melanie will be responsible for all FPF communications requirements including website updates, media relations, internal member communications, and social media presence. She will also assist with development of FPF’s strategic communication plan, and support availability of written or in-person representation of FPF’s position on important public policy questions on consumer privacy issues.
Melanie came to us from her role as the Director of Policy & Communications at the American Civil Liberties Union of the Nation’s Capital (ACLU-DC). Prior to ACLU-DC, she was the Legislative Director for Ward 6 Councilmember Tommy Wells at the Council of the District of Columbia. Melanie was the 2014-2015 President of the Greater Washington Area Chapter, Women’s Lawyers Division, National Bar Association (GWAC). She also served on the National Bar Association’s Board of Governors. Melanie is a graduate of the DC Bar Leadership Academy and the New Leaders Council Institute (NLC), Washington, DC Chapter.
Melanie earned her Bachelor of Science in Marketing from Hampton University in 2007 and her Juris Doctor from North Carolina Central University School of Law in 2011.
We are excited to have Melanie on board as FPF continues to grow its impact within the public policy discussion on the responsible use of data in consumer and commercial privacy issues. For inputs or questions about FPF’s work, please contact Melanie at [email protected].
