Education is changing. New technologies are allowing information to flow within schools and beyond, enabling new learning environments and providing new tools to improve the way teachers teach and the way students learn. Data-driven innovations are bringing advances in teaching and learning but are accompanied by concerns about how education data, particularly student-generated data, are being collected and used.
The Future of Privacy Forum believes that there are critical improvements to learning that are enabled by data and technology, and that the use of data and technology is not antithetical to protecting student privacy. In order to facilitate this balance, FPF equips and connects advocates, industry, policymakers, and practitioners with substantive practices, policies, and other solutions to address education privacy challenges at both the K-12 and higher ed levels.
For more information and resources, please visit Student Privacy Compass, a one-stop shop for information, news, and analysis on maintaining student data privacy.
Synopsis: Education Privacy Hearing—How Data Mining Threatens Student Privacy
Yesterday, the House of Representatives Education Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Elementary, and Secondary Education and the Homeland Security’s Subcommittee on Cybersecurity, Infrastructure Protection, and Security Technologies held a joint hearing to discuss “How Data Mining Threatens Student Privacy.” Four witnesses presented testimony from a number of perspectives: (1) Joel R. Reidenberg, Chair and Professor of […]
FPF Statement on Today's Joint Subcommittee Hearing on Education Privacy
One of the most important sections of the Administration’s recent report on Big Data concerns was focused on education technology and privacy. The report noted the need to ensure that innovations in educational technology, including new approaches and business models, have ample opportunity to flourish. Many of these benefits include robust tools to improve teaching […]
Aspen Institute Task Force Releases “Learner at the Center of a Networked World”
The Aspen Institute launched a Task Force on Learning and the Internet to better understand how young people are learning today, and to address how to optimize that learning through innovation. With the support of the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the Aspen Institute gathered a group of 20 respected minds in the […]
The Need for Privacy and Technology in our Schools: Rethinking Privacy in Education
Last Thursday, Jules Polonetsky participated in a Congressional E-Learning Caucus Briefing on “Data Privacy in Education” on Capitol Hill. Moderating the discussion was Intel’s David Hoffman, who today summarized his thoughts on the event: The demise of inBloom and many of the findings of the Pew research point to a need for continued dialogue on the […]
The Ethics of Student Privacy: Building Trust for Ed Tech
Read FPF’s paper on ethics and trust in the ed tech environment, but Jules Polonetsky and Omer Tene, as published in the International Review of Information Ethics, Vol. 21 (07/2014).