EPIC v. Ed privacy Student Privacy
EPIC Urges Education Department to Protect Student Privacy
EPIC has submitted comments to the Education Department, recommending the agency collect only "relevant and necessary" student information when it undertakes educational studies. The agency's Institute of Education Sciences has proposed a "Study of Promising Features of Teacher Preparation Programs" to help assess teacher effectiveness. The new database will contain records on "approximately 5,000 students and 360 teachers." EPIC urged the agency to only collect student data germane to teacher effectiveness, such as test scores, and opposed the agency's collection of detailed student information such as actual name and "disciplinary incidences." Earlier this year, EPIC sued the Education Department for issuing regulations that failed to safeguard student privacy. For more information, see EPIC: EPIC v. The U.S. Department of Education and EPIC: Student Privacy.