What's happening
Writing a plain-English summary… Track this bill to get it by email.
Why it matters
Albany, before your first meeting.
Every bill that moved yesterday, summarized in a sentence and ranked by impact. The Albany Scorecard follows on Sundays.
Free. Unsubscribe in one click. Want alerts on specific bills? Create an account.
Who cares
Headline styles
Sponsors
History
- Print number 5932a
- Amend and recommit to education
- Referred to education
- Referred to rules
Full text
The text isn't available here yet. Check nysenate.gov.
Sponsor's memo
BILL NUMBER:S5932A
Title of bill
An act to amend the education law, in relation to the release of personally identifiable student information
Purpose
This bill would protect student privacy by prohibiting the release of personally identifiable information about individual students to certain third parties unless there is parental consent, or a student who is 18 or older consents, or unless certain exceptions apply.
Summary of provisions
Section one of the bill creates a new section 3212-b of the Education Law entitled 'Release of personally identifiable student information." Subdivision one defines several terms as they are defined in the federal regulations that relate to privacy of student records (34 C.F.R. 99.3, the FERPA regulations), and also defines the term institution. Subdivision 2 sets out the limits on access to, or disclosure of, personally identifiable information; it deals specifically with limits on disclosure to contractors and consultants, as well as disclosure for purposes of academic studies, and prohibits disclosure for commercial use. Subdivision 3 sets out data integrity practices. Subdivision 4 provides for civil penalties and enforcement. The A-print rewrites the original bill without changing its purpose; the changes are designed to strengthen the bill and its protection of children's privacy.
Justification
New York and several other states have recently agreed to share confidential student information with corporate entities related to the Gates Foundation and the News Corporation. The shared data will include children's personal information, including name, address, test scores, disciplinary and attendance records, race, ethnicity, disabilities, and other highly sensitive information. The data will be used for various purposes and will be made available to commercial vendors to help them develop and market their learning products.
Neither parents nor students control the sharing of this sensitive personal data shared with corporate entities, one of which is a subsidiary of the News Corporation. It is critical that there be safeguards on the release of sensitive and personal information about students, and that parental or student consent should be part of any process of releasing personally identifiable student information to third parties. This legislation would establish procedures and standards that provide for consent and appropriate safeguards.
Prior legislative history
New bill.
Fiscal implications
None to the state.
Effective date
This act shall take effect on July 1, 2015.
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.