Our children's confidential school records given to private corporations [Update: SSN's Released] (1 Viewer)

SharonT

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>>>Louisiana and New York will be entering nearly all student records statewide.

What can be done to protect the privacy of children? How can it be legal to release this information - is it less harmful than medical records?

Note: The "school officials" with the power to do this are the ones we elect or are appointed by the people we elect, up in Baton Rouge. Has anyone else in La run across this?

It used to be all about confidentiality. (FERPA link) What changed? Wouldn't any info related to medical diagnoses (special ed students) be covered under HIPAA? Where is this information going? :covri:




K-12 student database jazzes tech startups, spooks parents | Reuters

But the most influential new product may be the least flashy: a $100 million database built to chart the academic paths of public school students from kindergarten through high school.
the database already holds files on millions of children identified by name, address and sometimes social security number. Learning disabilities are documented, test scores recorded, attendance noted. In some cases, the database tracks student hobbies, career goals, attitudes toward school - even homework completion.
The database is a joint project of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, which provided most of the funding, the Carnegie Corporation of New York and school officials from several states. Amplify Education, a division of Rupert Murdoch's News Corp, built the infrastructure over the past 18 months.
More:

NYC Public School Parents: Opt out letter for parents who do NOT want their children's confidential info shared with private corporations, and our follow-up questions to NY State

inBloom provides this sample data set to developers: files/medium-sample-data-set.zip

Washington Post.com - EPIC suing Dept of Ed - Violating Student Privacy Rights

EPIC.org Electronic Privacy Information Center
 
Think of what was put on your "permanent record" as you went through school. Instead of being shredded, your goofy junior-high self lives on in infamy. Like a bad myspace page you can't delete.

Except now it's your children and some company is profiting from (literally) their mistakes on a spelling test or what not.

And your child can now be tracked. Indefinitely.
 
selling children? maybe the thread title needs some adjusting because I don't get it either.
 
Not sure I get why this is an issue. So some company knows I got a lot of C's in high school. How do they make money on that and how does that negatively effect me? More over, how is this any different than Gmail using my emails to track my interests to provide ads to me or AT&T using my info about calls and texts to redirect business policies?
 
Not sure I get why this is an issue. So some company knows I got a lot of C's in high school. How do they make money on that and how does that negatively effect me? More over, how is this any different than Gmail using my emails to track my interests to provide ads to me or AT&T using my info about calls and texts to redirect business policies?

Well, for one, the kids didn't sign up for the service, agreeing to the terms.
 
Not sure I get why this is an issue. So some company knows I got a lot of C's in high school. How do they make money on that and how does that negatively effect me? More over, how is this any different than Gmail using my emails to track my interests to provide ads to me or AT&T using my info about calls and texts to redirect business policies?

And if you went through 12+ years of school, and a "C" average was the only record collected, it might not be a big deal. But your name, address, discipline referrals, special ed records, reasons for absence, etc, will all be attached to a real name, to be cross-checked for whatever reasons. Not random/blind data.

Edit: from a NY Opt Out letter

  • This confidential data will include your child’s personally identifiable information, including name, address, grades, test scores, disciplinary and attendance records, race, ethnicity, economic status, disabilities, health conditions and other highly sensitive information.

  • The information is to be stored in an electronic “data store” built by Wireless Generation, a subsidiary of News Corporation. News Corp is owned by Rupert Murdoch and has been found to have illegally violated privacy in Great Britain and in the US.

  • The “data store” will be placed on a cloud managed by Amazon.com. inBloom Inc. has already stated that it “cannot guarantee the security of the information stored…or that the information will not be intercepted when it is being transmitted.”
 
As a person who works with SPED students, I am very concerned about a students personal records, social security numbers, addresses, diagnosis etc. being publicly shared information through school records. I do not like the doors that this opens and I am afraid to think about the ones they could open in the future.

I mean I would not freely share my children's information and I would not be willing to allow their school to do so either.
 
Well, for one, the kids didn't sign up for the service, agreeing to the terms.

They can opt out if I understood the OP right. I dislike this on principal, but privacy rights are a thing of the past anyway.
 
They can opt out if I understood the OP right. I dislike this on principal, but privacy rights are a thing of the past anyway.

That's just it. There IS no opt-out in the program. Parents in NY (who put this form together) didn't even know this data-mining existed! I didn't know Louisiana had sent data until reading this article this morning, which is why I was wondering if any other parents across the state had heard anything.

Townhall.com Time to Opt Out of Creepy Fed Ed Data-Mining Racket
 
Fair enough. That's why I asked. Thanks to the red thumber. I, too, oppose them having access to names and personal numbers for basically any reason.
 
That's just it. There IS no opt-out in the program. Parents in NY (who put this form together) didn't even know this data-mining existed! I didn't know Louisiana had sent data until reading this article this morning, which is why I was wondering if any other parents across the state had heard anything.

Townhall.com Time to Opt Out of Creepy Fed Ed Data-Mining Racket

1. This shouldn't be happening.
2. Since it does, there should be an opt-out.
3. Parents should DEFINITELY be informed this is hapening.
4. Refer back to #1.
 
Nothing to see here folks. Bill and Melinda just want to help our children, feed them healthy GMO foods without labels, inoculate Africans through mosquito bites without their knowledge, and generally make the world a better place. I mean, his Dad did run Planned Parenthood so you know he means well. On a serious note, tax haven, nonprofit conglomerates need to lose their exempt status. Especially when they get into this social engineering BS.
 
No one should be surprised.

In the ugly world of free-market economics a child is merely a consumer - big business wants data on consumers so it can constantly rejig its relentless marketing bombardment to sell more things the child doesn't need to give it a momentary 'high' from the selfish consumerism it otherwise overwhelms us with.
 
No one should be surprised.

In the ugly world of free-market economics a child is merely a consumer - big business wants data on consumers so it can constantly rejig its relentless marketing bombardment to sell more things the child doesn't need to give it a momentary 'high' from the selfish consumerism it otherwise overwhelms us with.

When a government picks winners and losers by regulating or taxing some businesses out of existence for the benefit of another company, they aren't participating in "free market" economics. This is the greatest lie ever told to our current generations. We live in a Corporate-Fascist state that participates in Crony Capitalism at best. Just look at the favors given by Bush to Enron, big oil, etc. and then continued by Obama with GE and shutting down their competing power plants at the expense of fair pricing for the consumer. Or these tax exempt "think tanks" that are corporate owned and have been around forever socially engineering our society. The powers that be obviously did a great job educating us to hate free markets though.
 

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