Digital Smarts - Do Students Have a Right to Data and Social Media Privacy?

Many students and their parents are unaware of how schools or third-party companies are using their data -- or that it is being tracked at all. A list of the State Student Privacy Laws that have been passed is available on the The Education Privacy Resource Center site along with other resources for parents, students and educators. Also at issue is what happens to privacy on school issued laptops. Legislatures need to address this issue by looking into laws surrounding social media privacy, one-to-one devices, student information and learning management systems, and educational apps. There is also the question of how this applies to the personal technologies students bring with them to school.

How students use their own devices during personal time is subject to scrutiny by school officials as well. Social media continues to be a contentious space with murky boundaries between what’s public and private. “Is it important that students are able to use social media to engage in private conversations that are not known to the world? Yes, that is very important. Otherwise, you are depriving students of what may be one of the most critical first amendment vehicles of the 21st century,” says the America Civil Liberties Union’s Advocacy and Policy Counsel, Chad A. Marlow, speaking on social media rights for students.

Does your child use a school issued laptop or tablet? Do you know how their privacy rights are protected? Do you know what information is being collected about them? These are questions you may want to ask your school officials.