Update on Student Data Mining and Privacy Issues

From Mark Garrison in DataGate Update: Press Conference on Student Privacy:

There will be a press conference regarding growing concerns about student privacy this Thursday. Background to the issue can be found here, in addition to my recent post opposing the initiative.

It appears the New York State Department of Education will be issuing a “field memo” regarding the issue to school personal throughout New York State in the near future, likely in response to growing public concern, a concern that seems to be at least in part a result of growing opposition to the anti-public school reform movement (even more testing, more corporate charters, more cuts to funding for public schools, etc).

Another player in the data management for New York State is the New York Schools Data Analysis Technical Assistance Group (Datag), registered for tax purposes as a “Not for Profit Association”. School administrators from across NYS are convening at Datag this week. The connection between inBloom and Datag — actual or planned — needs to be explored.

Here's a link from a reader about Google's data gathering and invasion of privacy:

Google on Tuesday acknowledged to state officials that it had violated people’s privacy during its Street View mapping project when it casually scooped up passwords, e-mail and other personal information from unsuspecting computer users. 

In agreeing to settle a case brought by 38 states involving the project, the search company for the first time is required to aggressively police its own employees on privacy issues and to explicitly tell the public how to fend off privacy violations like this one.

While the settlement also included a tiny — for Google — fine of $7 million, privacy advocates and Google critics characterized the overall agreement as a breakthrough for a company they say has become a serial violator of privacy. 

“Google puts innovation ahead of everything and resists asking permission,” said Scott Cleland, a consultant for Google’s competitors and a consumer watchdog whose blog maintains a close watch on Google’s privacy issues. “But the states are throwing down a marker that they are watching and there is a line the company shouldn’t cross.” 

Read more here.

Marc Rotenberg from the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) stated:

...the agreement was “a significant privacy decision by the state attorneys general,” adding that “it shows the ongoing importance of the states’ A.G.’s in protecting the privacy rights of Internet users.” 

Remember that EPIC has filed a lawsuit challenging the United States Department of Education's reinterpretation of FERPA laws and the allowance of student data mining via Common Core.