U.S. Education Reform Bill
Adds Privacy Provisions for Kids
The privacy of schoolchildren is yet another concern being addressed in the sweeping education reform bill passed by the House in mid-December. Language added by a conference committee to reconcile the House and Senate versions of the appropriations bill will allow parents to bar for-profits from gathering data about their children at school. The amendment was offered by Sen. Richard Shelby (R-Ala.) and Sen. Christopher Dodd (D-Conn.), who cosponsored the Student Privacy Protection Act in 2000.
Shelby said in the December 18 Washington Post that the legislation will stop cash-strapped school systems from “basically selling access to kids without parents knowing about it.” Dodd added, “These companies were using the classroom for market research.” Ironically, in February the federal government lost access to similar data when the vendor with which the Defense Department had contracted, Internet filter-maker N2H2, bowed to public pressure and stopped selling nonidentifying information about what Web sites students frequent.
The Senate passed the bill December 18 by a vote of 87–10. President Bush has indicated that he will sign the legislation in early January.
Posted December 24, 2001.
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