Student Data Privacy

Student data privacy covers the use, collection, handling and governance of students’ personally identifiable information (PII). This includes any and all information that can be used to identify, locate or contact an individual student—such as name, address, student ID, and login information. It also includes the student’s academic, health, and disciplinary records, as well as information that can be combined to identify a particular student, like demographics and birth date.

Why does it matter?

Student data privacy is important because there are legal and ethical limitations on the collection, use, sharing, and handling of a student's personally identifiable information (PII). Federal and state laws regulate the privacy of student PII.

Meanwhile, data collection and the use of student information inside and outside our schools is rising all the time. Technology tools and apps are making it possible for educators and students to collaborate, create, and share ideas more easily than ever.

When schools use technology, students’ data—including some personal information—is collected both by educators and often the companies that provide apps and online services. Educators use some of this data to inform their instructional practice and get to know their students better. It is just as essential for educators to protect their students as it is to help them learn.

How are we making sure adopted tools comply with student data privacy rules?

Lake Oswego School District is a member of the Student Data Privacy Consortium (SDPC). The SDPC is a collaborative of districts and marketplace providers working together to implement solutions to growing data privacy concerns.

As part of this consortium, we use a National Data Privacy Agreement and the goal is to have all of our vendors for all of our software used in the District, sign this agreement. The agreement covers what data is collected, how and where it is stored, and much more.

As new software and apps become available, we have a team of dedicated staff who review them in detail before we even ask the vendor to sign an agreement. Once the software has been reviewed and we have a data privacy agreement in place, it becomes available for use.