Action Steps for Parents to Do Today to Protect Student Data

Action Steps for Parents to Do Today to Protect Student Data

As a follow up to yesterday’s article, “How Schools Use Private Student Data,” I offer 7 actions that parents and guardians can do now to put the control of your child’s private data back into your hands and limit what schools actually do with this important information.

Action Step #1: While your child is doing their homework, do yours. Research the following sites to become familiar with student privacy:

Action Step #2: Be involved with your child’s education and develop an open line of communication with his or her teacher. This will allow you to ask the “hard” questions, like:

  • What websites and apps do you plan on recommending to your students?
  • What student data do you collect?
  • How is collected student data protected?

Action Step #3: Review, study, learn and know the privacy policies of educational sites and apps that your child will be exposed to. You can skip all the legal mumbo-jumbo that is difficult to decipher, but you need to concentrate on what personal identifiable information the site or app collects and who it shares this information with.

Avoid those that indicate they share data with third-party marketers/affiliates, and if they have no privacy policy, run the other way!

Action Step #4: Be leery of “free” services or apps. Usually the company that made the app or created the service plans to make money by using user data. Know that regardless of the company, every company must legally follow its published policies, even though they have the right to change them at any time. This is why it’s so important to frequent their policies often.

Action Step #5: Become supportive friends with school administrators. Let administrators know that you support all that they and your child’s teacher(s) are doing to help your child learn and be successful this school year. Make it known that you want to help, too. A part of this is protecting your child by knowing what data the school collects and what information that you are able to legally withhold from the school about your child. By building a relationship with school administrators, it makes not only asking about this but receiving accurate answers easier.

Action Step #6: Actively surf on your child’s school’s website and if they have social media accounts, check those out too. Do this frequently to find out if:

  • Photos of students are being posted;
  • The names of students are on the school’s website or if images are tagged on Facebook; and
  • Visitor data is shared with third parties.

You may want to ask the school not to associate your child’s name with his or her photo that is floating around in cyberspace.

Action Step #7: Make your voice heard. Do your due diligence as a parent and contact Congress about student data privacy.

About the Author

Ginger Hill is Group Social Media Manager.

Featured

  • The Business Case for Video Analytics: Understanding the Real ROI

    For security professionals who may be hesitant to invest in video analytics, now's the time to reconsider. In a newly released Omdia report commissioned by BriefCam (now Milestone Systems), the research firm uncovered a compelling story: more than 85% of North American and European organizations that use video analytics achieve a return on investment within just one year. The study, which surveyed 140 end users across multiple industries, demonstrates that security technology is no longer just for security — it's a cross-organizational tool that delivers measurable business value far beyond traditional safety applications. Read Now

  • Survey: 54% of Organizations Cite Technical Debt as Top Hurdle to Identity System Modernization

    Modernizing identity systems is proving difficult for organizations due to two key challenges: decades of accumulated Identity and Access Management (IAM) technical debt and the complexity of managing access across multiple identity providers (IDPs). These findings come from the new Strata Identity-commissioned report, State of Multi-Cloud Identity: Insights and Trends for 2025. The report, based on survey data from the Cloud Security Alliance (CSA), highlights trends and challenges in securing cloud environments. The CSA is the world’s leading organization dedicated to defining standards, certifications, and best practices to help ensure a secure cloud computing environment. Read Now

  • Study: Only 35 Percent of Companies Include Cybersecurity Teams When Implementing AI

    Only 35 percent of cybersecurity professionals or teams are involved in the development of policy governing the use of AI technology in their enterprise, and nearly half (45 percent) report no involvement in the development, onboarding, or implementation of AI solutions, according to the recently released 2024 State of Cybersecurity survey report from ISACA, a global professional association advancing trust in technology. Read Now

  • New Report Series Highlights E-Commerce Threats, Fraud Against Retailers

    Trustwave, a cybersecurity and managed security services provider, recently released a series of reports detailing the threats facing the retail sector, marking the second year of its ongoing research into these critical security issues. Read Now

Featured Cybersecurity

Webinars

New Products

  • Mobile Safe Shield

    Mobile Safe Shield

    SafeWood Designs, Inc., a manufacturer of patented bullet resistant products, is excited to announce the launch of the Mobile Safe Shield. The Mobile Safe Shield is a moveable bullet resistant shield that provides protection in the event of an assailant and supplies cover in the event of an active shooter. With a heavy-duty steel frame, quality castor wheels, and bullet resistant core, the Mobile Safe Shield is a perfect addition to any guard station, security desks, courthouses, police stations, schools, office spaces and more. The Mobile Safe Shield is incredibly customizable. Bullet resistant materials are available in UL 752 Levels 1 through 8 and include glass, white board, tack board, veneer, and plastic laminate. Flexibility in bullet resistant materials allows for the Mobile Safe Shield to blend more with current interior décor for a seamless design aesthetic. Optional custom paint colors are also available for the steel frame. 3

  • Luma x20

    Luma x20

    Snap One has announced its popular Luma x20 family of surveillance products now offers even greater security and privacy for home and business owners across the globe by giving them full control over integrators’ system access to view live and recorded video. According to Snap One Product Manager Derek Webb, the new “customer handoff” feature provides enhanced user control after initial installation, allowing the owners to have total privacy while also making it easy to reinstate integrator access when maintenance or assistance is required. This new feature is now available to all Luma x20 users globally. “The Luma x20 family of surveillance solutions provides excellent image and audio capture, and with the new customer handoff feature, it now offers absolute privacy for camera feeds and recordings,” Webb said. “With notifications and integrator access controlled through the powerful OvrC remote system management platform, it’s easy for integrators to give their clients full control of their footage and then to get temporary access from the client for any troubleshooting needs.” 3

  • Compact IP Video Intercom

    Viking’s X-205 Series of intercoms provide HD IP video and two-way voice communication - all wrapped up in an attractive compact chassis. 3