Category Archives: student data privacy

School District Hack from the Inside. Criminal Charges. 3 Bits Informed Intel.

Which school district was affected by an internal hack? Abingdon-Avon School District, IL

Who is thought to have  hacked the school district internally? The Head of its IT

The purported purpose? Changing grades

The state law charges? 3 felony counts of Eavesdropping

KWQC | Abingdon-Avon employee arrested in relation to data breach

Schools Targeted by Data Collectors. The Intel to Know the Trend:

“Learning to be Watched: Surveillance Culture at School” report published  by the National Center for Education Policy at the University of Colorado at Boulder finds:

  • schools are soft targets for comapnies gathering data
  • free technology to school leads to data collection by the company
  • anonymized student data does not mean  students’ personally identifiable information (PII) is fully or permanently protected

Washington Post | Schools are now ‘soft targets’ for companies to…

INTERIM. TREND. Student Data Security Bills. 2016. 31 States. The Numbers you need to know:

  • In 2016, 31 states introduced student data security bills
  • in 2016, a total of 94 student data security bills were introduced
  • The 4 fastest states to act in 2016 were:
    • New Hampshire: a study to make recommendations
    • Utah: data governance standards
    • Virginia: contracting limitations, data limitations for student & teacher data
    • West Virginia: State Board level data governance standards

District Administration | CIO News | 31 states introduce student data privacy bills

INTERIM. Another Student Privacy Bill. 7 New Requirements for Education Contractors & Vendors.

Who are the targets of Connecticut’s student data privacy bill?

  • contractors with local boards of education, the State Board of Education and the State Department of Education
  • operators of websites, online services and mobile apps

What will be required of education vendors?

  • outline and maintain security practices
  • prohibited from using personally identifiable student information for :
    • advertising purposes
    • any purpose apart from what their contract stipulates
  • vendors cannot retain…

INTERIM. LegeTrend: State Moves to Cloud Computing. Data Security. New Procurement Opportunities.

Your informed intel:

Which state is making a move to cloud computing that is triggering data security issues and new procurement opportunities? Arizona

What procurement opportunities does the move trigger? 

  • Opportunities for cloud based computing storage
  • Opportunities for data security firms

Which data security standards will be required? All new procurement contracts and state data centers will have to meet standards contained in:

  •  Health Insurance Portability and Accountability…

State Chief Information Officers Call for Improved State Data Security. 3 Key Informed Intel.

What group is calling for improved state data security systems? National Association of State Chief Information Officers

What sparked the call to arms? the cost of cyber crime world wide is $375 billion to $575 billion, which is labled a threat to democracy

What do the NASCIO propose states do? Create statewide cybersecurity ecosystem 

What would a statewide cybersecurity ecosystem link? 

  • state government

  • local government

  • federal government

  • higher…

INTERIM. Cyber Security and Higher Ed. New Study. 3 Reasons its Bad for a Cyber Secure Future.

CloudPassage has a new report on cybersecurity and high education institutions. Here’s the big picutre:

  • None, Zero, Zilch, Nien of the Top 10 Computer Science programs in the country require security courses to graduate
  • Of the Top 26 computer science programs, only #12 Michigan requires cyber security
  • In 2015, there were 200,000 OPEN computer security positions in the U.S.

Why the lack of focus on cyber or data security among undergrads?

  • Its been pushed as a niche area for graduate…

University Policy Reaction to Hackers Backfires. 5 Keys to Keep in Mind.

What happened on University of California campuses to cause a UC hacker policy? In 2015 Hackers Broke into the UCLA Medical Center.

In response to the hack what policy did UC officials enact? UC installed data monitors that stores internet traffic on campuses for 30 days

Do faculty like this idea? No, UC has a policy dating back to the 1930s that providers for collaborative policy making in conjunction with faculty input. It’s all very Californian.

Did UC create a greater data security…

Lege Trend: Curtail Release of Any and All Student Data to 3rd parties. Bonjour, education vendors.

What happened to spark stronger student data privacy protections? A court allowed for the release of student data to a group of parents who are fighting a court battle over the quality of education for disabled students.

What data do legislators want to prevent schools from releasing?

  • student social security numbers
  • medical histories
  • mental health assessments
  • student disciplinary records

​What is the nobel purpose of the legislative action? Schools collect data that is neither…

INTERIM Lege Trend: Protect Student Data Leading the Pack in the North. 3 Bits of Informed Intel.

Minnesota wants to do a better job protecting student data privacy. Here’s what the land of 10,000 lakes is proposing in its House Bill 2386:

  • prohibit schools from forcing students to supply their access information to personal social media accounts
  • prohibit school employees from forcing students to alter the settings of their accounts to make information visible to the public
  • opens violating schools up for legal action on the part of the affected student

Governing | 7 Tech Policy…