Microsoft announced today that it is one of the first companies to sign a new pledge designed to protect students’ privacy at a time when more technology is flooding into the classroom.
The “K-12 School Service Provider Pledge to Safeguard Student Privacy,” which was organized by the Future of Privacy Forum and the Software & Information Industry Association, is designed to identify companies that will keep data from students safe.
Signatories pledge to:
- Not sell student information
- Not behaviorally target adverting
- 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
- Be transparent about collection and use of data.
Microsoft is joined in the pledge by 14 other companies, including Code.org, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, and Amplify, a company that develops digital curriculums.
Notably absent from the pledge at this point are Apple and Google, which both have key roles in the current education tech ecosystem. Google in particular is making a major push into schools with Chromebooks as well as its Apps for Education service that gives institutions the ability to administer school-specific versions of services like Gmail and Google Drive.
Today’s announcement comes a week after California Governor Jerry Brown signed a law that restricts what companies can do with student data. That law includes some of the key tenets of the pledge, including a restriction on selling students’ text messages, online searches, voice recordings and other information. It’s meant to address what some see as weaknesses in the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, a 40-year-old law that critics say hasn’t kept up with a changing technology landscape.
It will be interesting to see if other companies choose to sign on to the pledge, or if Microsoft remains a lone hold-out among tech giants. With more schools turning to education tech companies for tools to boost learning, student privacy will remain a key subject moving forward.
