Company is latest to promise to safeguard students’ personal information
Turning Technologies [1] has joined the growing list of education service providers to sign the Student Privacy Pledge.
Introduced by the Future of Privacy Forum and the Software & Information Industry Association, the pledge is a commitment by school service providers to safeguard student privacy regarding the collection, maintenance and use of student personal information.
The Student Privacy Pledge holds providers accountable in the proper management of student data. Signatories commit to not sell student information, not engage in target advertising, to use data for authorized, education purposes only, not change privacy policies without notice and choice, enforce strict limits on data retention, support parental access to, and correction of errors in, their children’s information, provide comprehensive security standards and accordingly be transparent about collection and use of data.
Next page: More privacy protection efforts
Commitments are intended to note ongoing industry best practices that firmly uphold and exceed all federal requirements and to encourage service providers to clearly communicate with parents, teachers and education officials on the use of student data and measures taken in order to properly safeguard it.
In addition to participation in the Student Privacy Pledge [2], Turning Technologies has recognized the growing concerns many institutions face regarding the protection of student data and the need to secure educational records from unauthorized disclosures as legally defined by the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA).
In an effort to address security concerns, the latest release of TurningPoint Cloud was developed to help institutions comply with FERPA by ensuring that sensitive information is accessed only by users with verified accounts and designated access to encrypted files.
The software has been independently verified for Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) compliance by the American Association of College Registrars and Admissions Officers with relevance to the collection, use and protection of education records.
“The Student Privacy Pledge aligns directly with the mission of our company to collect critical data for use in meaningful ways, in order to effectively support instruction and learning opportunities,” said Turning Technologies’ CEO Mike Broderick. “We proactively engineered new security features in our most recent product releases with a goal to be good stewards of data. We also leverage the renowned security of the Amazon Web Services infrastructure and employ recognized industry best practices that will help institutions comply with FERPA policies. We are excited to take a proactive approach by signing the pledge and demonstration our commitment to student privacy.”
Material from a press release was used in this report.