President Obama addresses the Federal Trade Commission on cybersecurity. (Joshua Rosenblat/MNS)
WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama announced legislation Monday that would restrict how companies use information they collect from students who use the firms’ online educational tools and resources.
The president’s Student Digital Privacy Act is modeled after a California law that bars technology companies from selling students’ cyber information to third parties for non-educational purposes and for targeted advertising.
“It’s pretty straightforward,” Obama said in a speech at the Federal Trade Commission. “We’re saying the data collected on students in the classroom can be used for educational purposes–to teach our children, not to market to our children. We want to prevent companies from selling student data to third parties for purposes other than education. We want to prevent any kind of profiling about certain students.”
Last July, Sens. Ed Markey, D-Mass., and Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, introduced a bill to support students’ digital privacy, but it never came to a vote. The legislation would have updated the Federal Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 to criminalize targeted advertising of students based on their educational records, but the regulation would have only applied to information maintained by schools or third parties acting for the schools, not information collected by education technology companies.
“We need a structure that ensures that information is not being gathered without us, as parents, or kids knowing,” Obama said. “We want our kids’ privacy protected wherever they sign on or log on, including at school.”
James P. Steyer, the CEO and founder of Common Sense Media, a children’s advocacy group focused on media and technology, said he supports the president’s initiatives, citing the value of technological advancements in education.
“The president is absolutely right to take this step forward in creating a trusted online learning environment for all American students–and do it in a reasonable way where industry can innovate, schools can provide state-of-the-art digital learning tools, and students can thrive,” Steyer said in a statement.
According to the president, 75 companies have already pledged to protect the data privacy of students, teachers and parents in accordance with the proposed legislation.
The Future of Privacy Forum and The Software and Information Industry Association introduced the “Student Privacy Pledge” in October, a voluntary effort by companies to address many of the main points of Obama’s legislation.
“In a gridlocked Congress where federal legislation faces challenges, the Pledge creates an immediate and enforceable legal code for companies that sign on,” FPF Executive Director Jules Polonetsky said in a statement.
Obama, though, seemed confident the legislation would pass despite the new Republican majority in both houses of Congress.
“This should not be a partisan issue,” Obama said. “This should be something that unites all of us as Americans. It’s one of those new challenges in our modern society that crosses the old divides–transcends politics, transcends ideology.”
Obama also announced the Department of Education will offer tools for teachers and students to work with technology companies to promote digital privacy and innovation in the classroom.
The president’s speech was part of a larger message about measures to protect consumers from cyber threats as part of a weeklong rollout of cybersecurity initiatives ahead of the State of the Union address.
