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Concerns over New York student data privacy proposal heightened by Trump victory
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Concerns over New York student data privacy proposal heightened by Trump victory

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The New York City school board is delaying a vote on a controversial proposal regulating how the Department of Education collects, stores and shares private student data, including names, email addresses, phone numbers, home addresses and dates of birth.

For weeks, parents and advocates have expressed concerns about whether proposed revisions to a 15-year-old Department of Education policy would adequately protect student data. Some feared that the revised policy would weaken protections for students, in some cases allowing the Ministry of Education to share student data with third parties without parental consent.

The United Federation of Teachers echoed parents’ concerns about the proposed revisions in a letter sent earlier this month to the Department of Education, according to a copy obtained by Chalkbeat.

Fears over student data privacy have grown in the weeks since President-elect Donald Trump won re-election. During his campaign, Trump repeatedly pledged to carry out mass and aggressive deportations, a promise that is already causing concern in New York, which is home to thousands of asylum-seeking students and other migrants.

In light of Trump’s rhetoric, some parents, advocates and city officials want to see even stronger protections for student data, ensuring that information such as a student’s home address will not assist officers federal authorities to identify undocumented students.

THE revised regulations were originally scheduled for an October vote by the city’s Panel for Education Policy, or PEP, which votes on major policy proposals and contracts. The project was postponed until Wednesday’s panel meeting, then pushed back until at least December, PEP President Gregory Faulkner said last week.

With more time before the vote, Faulkner said PEP plans to hold a town hall meeting during the first week of December to solicit public comment on the regulations. (The date has not yet been set.) It is one of two controversial proposals that will be discussed at the town hall, with families also invited to give their opinions. a proposed contract worth nearly $17 million for the specialized high school admission test.

Department of Education spokeswoman Chyann Tull said moving the vote would allow for more community engagement.

“The proposed revisions to the regulation make necessary updates to comply with state and federal laws, and update the regulation with current policies and practices related to the protection of student information, which go beyond beyond legal requirements,” she said in a statement. “We listen and are responsive to the voices of our families and communities, and we have revised the regulations twice in response to public comments. »

But critics of the revisions argue that the proposed regulations are not fully aligned with State Lawwhich they say outlines more overt protections and oversight regarding how outside parties use student data collected by educational agencies.

Members of the public can view proposed revisions onlineand share your feedback with the PEP via email, phone or by attending a meeting, city officials said.

Advocates say opt-out measures are insufficient

The proposed regulations update the 2009 privacy protections and include details on the rights of parents and students with respect to school records, the responsibilities of school officials who handle these records, the procedures that must be tracked after data breaches, and much more.

Advocates have raised concerns about a stipulation that student data can be classified as “directory information,” allowing the Department of Education to disclose it to third-party vendors without parental consent.

Under the proposed regulation, schools would be required to give families at least 30 days’ notice before such data is allowed to be released, during which time families could choose to opt out, according to city documents . These notices should include both the types of student data that would become directory information, as well as the parties to whom such data would be disclosed. Notices must also be “written and distributed in a manner reasonably likely to be seen” by families.

But once classified as directory information, this data could be shared with designated parties without parental consent.

Leonie Haimson, executive director of the advocacy group Class Size Matters and co-chair of the Parent Coalition for Student Privacy, took issue with the broad range of student data that could be classified as directory information under the proposed rule. She added that opt-outs are insufficient to protect student privacy.

“We know that parental opt-outs are inadequate because many parents will never see these notifications,” she said in an email. “Identity theft of minors can occur only with names and dates of birth, and these crimes can go undetected for years, seriously harming their future prospects. »

For many, concerns about sharing student data focus on how third parties might use that information — and whether the proposed regulations sufficiently protect against possible redistribution or abuse of student data. Hearing those comments motivated Faulkner to seek more public input on the regulations, he said.

“It leaves us at some point, and that’s where there have been complaints,” he said of the student data. “For me, I want to see that the directory information is actually protected.”

Naveed Hasan, a Manhattan parent and PEP member, is awaiting public input before deciding on the proposed revisions. He worries about how vendors might use student data, especially when much of the Department of Education’s technology infrastructure is outsourced to other companies.

“My position has always been that under no circumstances should any of our students’ private data be on a network not operated by the DOE,” he said.

Department of Education officials said students’ personal information cannot be used for commercial or marketing purposes and that providers can only access, use or share private data to the extent necessary for the services they provide. ‘they are committed to providing.

Student privacy concerns heightened by Trump’s second term

Haimson expressed a litany of other concerns about the privacy regulations, including that the text could exempt some student health records from state law protections, as well as the possible implications of the revisions for students migrants once Trump takes office.

“Disclosure of a child’s personal data, including their photos, could also further encourage predatory marketing, sexual harassment, deepfake pornography or kidnapping, and help the Trump administration deport migrant students based on their address,” Haimson said.

Faulkner said he has asked the city for more information about what the Trump administration’s focus on mass evictions could mean for the city’s students, particularly as it relates to data privacy students.

“Are we making it easy? Are there protections in place? he said. “For some children, if their address becomes easily accessible, you just need to know where the shelters are. Would this target our undocumented children?

Beyond the issue of data privacy, Hasan said he hopes to see the city make a stronger commitment to protecting undocumented students from the Trump administration.

“We want the city to not cooperate if and when they approach them, no matter what,” he said. “We need to put safeguards in place for our students and families who are enrolled in schools – who have a federal right to be in those schools regardless of their documentation status – even if they are approached by a hostile federal administration. »

Brooklyn parent and PEP member Jessamyn Lee hopes public pressure will push the Department of Education to further strengthen student data protections.

“These regulations only come around once a decade,” she said. “So if we don’t get this done now, the students who are currently in our schools are going to be screwed.”

Julian Shen-Berro is a journalist covering New York City. Contact him at [email protected].