We had a meeting with over
two dozen parents from various ends of Montgomery and Prince Georgia's Counties
yesterday, 3/30/15, and provided parents some background on the new technology
in our schools.
One important effort with a
deadline of tomorrow, April 1st, deadline at 10am is to write your Senator to
PASS the Student Privacy Bill - to stop "Educational" companies from
collecting and selling data on your child's activities online. States
like CA, NY, and NJ have already taken legal initiatives, as well. If we
have some of the top schools in the nation, then we should be taking the lead
on this matter!
With all the technology and devices our students use
constantly, the privacy of the data collected during their use of
technology is a much discussed topic.
For parents who have raised concerns about data collected while
students use the technology required by MCPS, the Student Data Privacy Act
should be of interest. Here's a link to the bill:
http://mgaleg.maryland.gov/webmga/frmMain.aspx?pid=billpage&stab=01&id=hb0298&tab=subject3&ys=2015RS
Generally, the bill would apply to operators who control websites,
online services, online apps and mobile apps used by students at the direction
of schools or the state Dept. of Education. Operators are required to
protect student data from access, destruction, use, modification or
disclosure, required to constantly meet certain security standards, and
are prohibited from creating targeted ads, creating profiles, selling
information, or disclosing data.
HB298 passed the House last week, but has no Senate
crossfile. The House bill has been presented to the Senate Education,
Health and Environmental Affairs committee, and will be heard by that committee
on April 1.
If you support this legislation, contact the members of
the Education, Health and Environmental Affairs committee immediately,
particularly the Montgomery County members - Senators Montgomery and Kagan ---
and urge them to support the bill as is to prevent weakening
the protections through amendments. Here's the membership list
for the committee - each name a hyperlink to the contact info:
Letter to Type: Sample:
I am a parent of a child in ____________ County and am in full
support of the Student Data Privacy Act (HB0298). This Bill is necessary
to fill the gaps that FERPA and COPPA cannot reach - as it pertains to protect
our children's data collection by third party vendors. The Student Data
Privacy Act (HB0298) should be adopted as is. It is critical we provide
protection for our youth, as the consequences of data collection, starting in
Kindergarten - all the way through High School, and the ability to sell such
data to for profit companies is not the business of education that the State of
Maryland should be engaged in.
Respectfully,
[name]
[county]
Thank you for your quick action and engaging in this important
issue
Ellen Zavian
I cannot open the file of the meeting. What application do you use? Can you put it into a youtube ?
ReplyDeleteHere you go. I moved it to YouTube so that it could be viewed and heard by a wider audience.
Deletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YmsfFXOXbo4
Large companies like Facebook and Educational platforms are lobbying today and in the morning against the bill.... please please write your support to the bill 'as is'. Don't let dollars trump your voice!
ReplyDelete