Press Releases

Tomorrow, the Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Elementary, and Secondary Education will hold a joint hearing with the Homeland Security Subcommittee on Cybersecurity, Infrastructure Protection, and Security Technologies to examine the mining and retention of student data and the potential privacy and security risks this poses to students’ personally identifiable information. The hearing, entitled “How Data Mining Threatens Student Privacy” will take place at 11:00 a.m.in room 311 of the Cannon House Office Building.

Subcommittee Chairman Patrick Meehan (R-PA) on the hearing: “Educational software and cloud systems are important tools for our teachers and students today. But parents have real concerns over how information these tools gather may be used, and that attendance records, learning abilities, locations, web histories and other personally identifiable information may be mined, shared and sold for profit.  I look forward to working with Chairman Rokita to examine the threat to student privacy and security posed by the mining and retention of student data.”

Subcommittee Chairman Todd Rokita (R-IN) on the hearing: “Student data is a key element in improving schools and assisting teachers as they design curriculum.  However, we must make certain there is not a threat to student privacy as this data is collected, shared, and analyzed.  Protecting student privacy in the digital age is a top priority for me and my subcommittee.  I look forward to working with Chairman Meehan in our joint hearing.”

To learn more about the hearing, visit /hearings.  

 

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WITNESS LIST

Mr. Joel R. Reidenberg
Stanley D. and Nikki Waxberg, Chair and Professor of Law
Founding Academic Director, Center on Law and Information Policy
Fordham University School of Law

Mr. Mark MacCarthy
Vice President, Public Policy
Software and Information Industry Association

Ms. Joyce Popp
Chief Information Officer
Idaho State Department of Education

Mr. Thomas Murray
State and District Digital Learning Policy and Advocacy Director
Alliance for Excellent Education