Updated: here is the list of all the student and teacher data elements being captured by inBloom; here is an excerpted list, with some of the most sensitive information.
Thanks to our work and the advocacy of parents and teachers across the city, many parents now know that inBloom, Inc, the Gates-funded organization, is being paid to hold and share student (and teacher) personally-identifiable data with for-profit vendors (read more about inBloom here). However, most people don't know how personal and confidential this data is.
Thanks to our work and the advocacy of parents and teachers across the city, many parents now know that inBloom, Inc, the Gates-funded organization, is being paid to hold and share student (and teacher) personally-identifiable data with for-profit vendors (read more about inBloom here). However, most people don't know how personal and confidential this data is.
InBloom, Inc. has a sample "sandbox"
segment on their web page meant "for developers" to show them
what data will be made available to them to build their software
"tools" around.
Under the “medium” data set, we find that
student names, addresses, emails, latitude and longitude of their homes and
schools, phone numbers, test scores, grades, race, economic status, photos,
detailed disciplinary records, special education services and medical conditions
are all included.
Check out the screen shots below to see more.
Name, address, email, student picture, race, economic status, free lunch status, race, language needs and whether the child is in foster care or not.
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Detailed disciplinary record, including whether the incident was reported to the police and whether there was a weapon involved. This sort of record if leaked out could seriously damage a student's prospects whether or not any arrest or conviction ever occurred. .
Whether the student has a developmental delay, is in athletics, or has a medical condition or not. Even specific enough to ask what the child's learning style is.
Also collecting teacher data, including name, address, latitude and longitude of teacher's home.
Do you know exactly which fields in this data base NY is requiring from schools? All? Some?
ReplyDeleteWhy is this not a class action law suit. What happened to FERPA?
ReplyDeleteHello,
ReplyDeleteThank you for your recent correspondence regarding New York's Education Data Portal (EDP). I appreciate the time you have taken to share your views.
I'd like to briefly explain what the EDP is, how students will benefit from it, and the steps New York is taking to ensure that student data and student privacy remain secure.
New York's EDP offers educators, students, and their families the ability to view and verify student information and data and provides access to Common Core instructional materials. The EDP will help teachers deliver high quality personalized instruction to their students, give parents a chance to make sure that their children's information is complete and accurate, and enable meaningful conversations between parents and teachers about student progress. The U.S. Congress has strongly supported the development of state longitudinal data systems and their use to help improve student learning and school/district accountability, while ensuring that information is collected and disseminated in a manner that protects individual privacy.
Like you, the Board of Regents and I are very concerned about safeguarding the privacy of all student information and data. The EDP will maintain stringent data security and privacy protections consistent with the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) and other federal and State laws and regulations. Access to student information from the EDP will be controlled by local school districts and will be transmitted securely to teachers, students, and families. Outside vendors will have access only when authorized by the State or school districts for educational purposes, including the EDP itself and other specific school district uses, for example, a contract for the development of report cards or attendance reports. No individual or company will be permitted or allowed to use student information for marketing or re-sale purposes. Re-disclosure to parties not authorized by districts is strictly controlled, and may be done only for educational purposes and under the conditions permitted by FERPA and other applicable State and federal laws.
The State Education Department does not – and will not – collect or share students' social security numbers or photos; assertions to the contrary are wholly misguided and wrong.
In short, all existing data security and privacy protections remain in full effect. InBloom, a non-profit organization partnering with Colorado, Delaware, Georgia, Illinois, Kentucky, New York, North Carolina, Louisiana, and Massachusetts, seeks only to make this process more efficient and cost-effective for districts that wish to authorize and provide these tools to educators, students and their families.
inBloom allows for the sharing of costs and services across multiple states rather than each state bearing the costs of a separate system.
inBloom uses the latest security measures to ensure the confidentiality of each state's individual set of data.
The Board of Regents and I are committed to an education reform agenda that has the straight-forward goal of preparing all children for college and careers. The EDP will help achieve that goal. It will help personalize and focus the resources available to educators, students and their families as we transition to the Common Core. And it will do this in a way that ensures the continued protection of student information and data.
Sincerely,
Dr. John B. King, Jr.