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Privacy concerns grow over Gates-funded

student database

The Washington PostByValerie StraussJune 9, 2013 E-mail the writer

Privacy concerns are growing among parents, educators and some state officials about a GatesFoundation-fundedprojectthat is storing an unprecedented amount of personal informationabout millions of students in a $100 million database that cannot guarantee complete security.

As a result of the concerns, some states that had initially signed up to participate in a pilotprogram with the databaseoperated by a new nonprofit called inBloom, Inc.,are pullingback, including Louisiana. Others states originally listed on the inBloom Web site as projectpartners told Reuters they hadnt fully committed, and one, Georgia, asked to beremoved fromthe site. By Reuters reckoning, of the nine states originally listed as participating, only three are

actively involvedNew York, Illinois and Colorado. In New York, parents and educators areprotesting the states involvement, and there has been legislation introduced in the to pull back.

The database, funded largely with money from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, waslaunched in March at the SXSWedu conference in Texas.

Supporters say that states already collect the information and that collecting it one place makes iteasier for teachers to plumb data about their students and target software to improve theiracademic performance. Parents, they say, could see what schools have collected about theirchildren. They say that it is not a national database but a a secure data service to help school

districts manage the information needed for learning, and to support local educational goals.

The inBloom Web site says that the data cannot be shared with any outside parties withoutpermission from the participating state or school district.

Opponents say that the amount of information is unprecedentedincluding, for example,learning disabilities, health records, teacherassessments of a students character and thathaving it in a single place makes it easier to exploit. Parents, they say, were never asked forpermission by districts or states to share their childs data, and inBloom doesnt guarantee totalsecurity of the information. The nonprofit Electronic Privacy Information Center has sued theU.S. Education Department over the database, calling it a serious threat to student privacy. (Youcan read about thelawsuit here, and a response frominBloom here.

On the issue of security, the inBloom Web site says:

We understand how important every childs privacy is, and thats why data security is such a

high priority for inBloom. We worked with our pilot states and districts and a panel of studentprivacy and security experts to create the policy that governs our handling of sensitive data.While in this day and age no security protections can be 100% guaranteed, inBloom has greatlyimproved student data protection beyond the measures currently used by most school systems.We are meeting the highest industry standards and are exceeding federal requirements.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/valerie-strauss/2011/03/07/ABZrToO_page.htmlhttp://www.washingtonpost.com/valerie-strauss/2011/03/07/ABZrToO_page.htmlhttp://www.washingtonpost.com/valerie-strauss/2011/03/07/ABZrToO_page.htmlmailto:Valerie.Strauss@washpost.com?subject=Reader%20feedback%20for%20%27Privacy%20concerns%20grow%20over%20Gates-funded%20student%20database%27mailto:Valerie.Strauss@washpost.com?subject=Reader%20feedback%20for%20%27Privacy%20concerns%20grow%20over%20Gates-funded%20student%20database%27http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2013/03/13/lawsuit-charges-ed-department-with-violating-student-privacy-rights/http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2013/03/13/lawsuit-charges-ed-department-with-violating-student-privacy-rights/http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2013/03/13/lawsuit-charges-ed-department-with-violating-student-privacy-rights/http://news.yahoo.com/school-database-loses-backers-parents-balk-over-privacy-162614630.htmlhttp://news.yahoo.com/school-database-loses-backers-parents-balk-over-privacy-162614630.htmlhttp://news.yahoo.com/school-database-loses-backers-parents-balk-over-privacy-162614630.htmlhttp://news.yahoo.com/school-database-loses-backers-parents-balk-over-privacy-162614630.htmlhttp://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2013/03/13/lawsuit-charges-ed-department-with-violating-student-privacy-rights/http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2013/03/13/lawsuit-charges-ed-department-with-violating-student-privacy-rights/http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2013/03/13/lawsuit-charges-ed-department-with-violating-student-privacy-rights/http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2013/03/28/on-the-question-of-student-privacy/http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2013/03/28/on-the-question-of-student-privacy/http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2013/03/28/on-the-question-of-student-privacy/https://www.inbloom.org/faqhttps://www.inbloom.org/faqhttps://www.inbloom.org/faqhttp://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2013/03/28/on-the-question-of-student-privacy/http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2013/03/13/lawsuit-charges-ed-department-with-violating-student-privacy-rights/http://news.yahoo.com/school-database-loses-backers-parents-balk-over-privacy-162614630.htmlhttp://news.yahoo.com/school-database-loses-backers-parents-balk-over-privacy-162614630.htmlhttp://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2013/03/13/lawsuit-charges-ed-department-with-violating-student-privacy-rights/mailto:Valerie.Strauss@washpost.com?subject=Reader%20feedback%20for%20%27Privacy%20concerns%20grow%20over%20Gates-funded%20student%20database%27http://www.washingtonpost.com/valerie-strauss/2011/03/07/ABZrToO_page.html

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American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten recentlyreleased this statementabout the issue, noting that the organization has sent letters to inBloom funders seekingclarification of many of these concerns.

Any potential inBloom has to improve and personalize learning is being overshadowed by a

growing lack of public trust in its early communications and operations, and genuine concernsabout the security, privacy, sharing and exploitation of data. The AFT raised many of theseissues originally, and we, along with parents and teachers, continue to have many concerns aboutthe privacy and security of student and teacher data. We have sent a letter to the funders ofinBloom seeking clarification.

These privacy and security concerns go well beyond inBloom. With a growing marketplaceemerging for data collection, storage, analysis and monetizationboth for good and for illwemust be more vigilant than ever about the privacy and security rights of students, teachers andthe American people. The rights and responsibilities of parents, students, teachers and schoolofficials in protecting sensitive data, and in determining how others can use that data, must be

transparent and well-regulated, and city, state and federal officials have key roles to play.

Louisiana Education Superintendent John White recently pulled back on the states involvementwith the database after parents raised concerns about the amount and type of information beingcollected, according tothis story in the News Star.

One of the concerns of parents in Louisiana and other states is the use of student Social Securitynumbers to label files in the database. This is now being changed, with randomized numbersbeing assigned to each student file, although, the Reuters story by Stephanie Simon reported thatinBloom spokesman Adam Gaber refused to say whether Social Security numbers might be

included elsewherenot as a label but as a basic data point, along with ethnicity, address,

parents names and other personal information routinely collected by public schools.

https://www.aft.org/newspubs/press/2013/053113.cfmhttps://www.aft.org/newspubs/press/2013/053113.cfmhttps://www.aft.org/newspubs/press/2013/053113.cfmhttp://www.thenewsstar.com/article/20130419/NEWS01/130419017/Superintendent-John-White-recalls-student-data-stored-nonprofit-inBloomhttp://www.thenewsstar.com/article/20130419/NEWS01/130419017/Superintendent-John-White-recalls-student-data-stored-nonprofit-inBloomhttp://www.thenewsstar.com/article/20130419/NEWS01/130419017/Superintendent-John-White-recalls-student-data-stored-nonprofit-inBloomhttp://www.thenewsstar.com/article/20130419/NEWS01/130419017/Superintendent-John-White-recalls-student-data-stored-nonprofit-inBloomhttps://www.aft.org/newspubs/press/2013/053113.cfm