Amendment Would Bolster Student Privacy Protection

Sen. Edward Markey, D-Mass., and Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, recently said they hope to amend the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Right Act to better protect student data. FERPA requires parental permission to share sensitive student data, but a loophole in the law allows schools to outsource functions, such as data processing, without consent from parents. "The draft legislation would ensure that students are better protected when data is shared with and held by third parties, and parents are able to control the sensitive information of their children," stated a news release from Markey's office.