Myth #2: Data privacy is a concern for just the IT department.
According to David Rubin, attorney for the Council of School Attorneys, one of the biggest challenges to protecting data privacy in the cloud is the lack of understanding by school boards and district superintendents.
“You start to talk to them about data privacy and cloud warehousing and you see their eyes glaze over. With so much jargon it’s easy to say ‘it’s a problem for IT,’ but everyone should be well-versed in data privacy,” explained Rubin. “That’s why it’s good to relate data privacy in the cloud to a symbol and use language they can understand.”
Rubin gave the example of describing the cloud as a physical warehouse in the city somewhere.
“Tell them to think of questions like ‘Is the building secure?’ ‘What boxes of files in the warehouse need to have their own special security?’ ‘What happens if the boxes are stolen? What measures are in place?’ ‘Does the warehouse itself comply with city ordinances?’ ‘Will the file boxes be mixed in with other files from other people?’ ‘What happens if there’s an emergency like flooding and the boxes need to be moved?’ ‘If the warehouse is just beyond the state line, do laws in that state comply to the laws in my state?’ All of these questions should be the same ones you consider when moving to the cloud.”
Another large concern for schools, noted Rubin, is when individual teachers, trying to help their students, start downloading ‘free’ apps on mobile devices—apps that could have teachers clicking away student privacy rights.
“Teachers are accepting terms of service that may be directly violating student privacy laws and that can’t happen,” said Rubin. “Teachers need to be made aware of this fact as they start incorporating mobile devices into the classroom.”
Jim Siegl, technology architect for Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS), said that a recent update to the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) in July 2013 extended to apps and expanded its definition of PII to include geolocation data, files that contain a child’s image or voice, and “persistent identifiers” (e.g. tracking cookies) that could be used to build a profile over time and across different websites or online services.
“COPPA does not apply to school districts that contract with websites to offer online programs solely for the benefit of their students and for no other commercial purpose,” explained Siegl. “Schools can inform parents of non-commercial use platforms through school AUPs [Acceptable Use Policies], and for commercial platforms they can send out consent forms.”
Siegl also mentioned that iTunes now has a “kid’s” category to screen vendors and weed out behavioral advertising.
(Next page: Should all data be in the cloud?)
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