How Safe Is It To Share Personal Data With Your Child's School?

Sharing personal data can be quite dangerous when it's not kept in confidence, and for that reason, parents have to know how safe it is to share their child's personal data, even to their schools.

NBC News reports that schools are allowed under federal law to share or sell "directory information" about their students with anyone, unless the respective parent declines via a parental opt-out form.

A post from New Hampshire parents said that in a particular booklet that some students received, it was stated that a child's student education record can be released without the parent's consent to particularly anyone "with legitimate educational interests."

They added that under new regulatory interpretations, that means that the US Department of Education may disclose personally identifiable student data to anyone in the world, "as long as the disclosing agency uses the correct language to justify its action."

NBC News reports Pam Dixon, executive director of the World Privacy Forum, said: "Directory information may sound innocuous, but it can include sensitive information about each student that is quite detailed."

"And after the school releases this data, it is considered to be public information and you've lost control of it. I don't think most parents know this," added Dixon.

According to the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (FERPA), such student "directory information" includes home address, email address, telephone number, date and place of birth, height, weight, and clubs or sports teams they've joined. It may even include a photograph.

FERPA was written long before the internet. This meant that a student's personal information was just in paper, kept in a cabinet. As such, privacy was easier to maintain.

Today, with the advent of information technology, stalkers, identity thieves and abusers can just easily access the data that they need about a certain person.

"A photo of a child, along with their email and home address, is a recipe for disaster in the wrong hands. And that's exactly the kind of thing we need to keep from happening," Dixon told NBC News. 

FERPA gives parents the right to know what information schools might keep and disclose about their children, and also gives them the rights to limit or block access to that data, through opt-out forms. 

Jules Polonetsky of the Future of Privacy Forum said that sadly FERPA is not understood by many schools and also parents who could make the right decisions for their child.

"A lot of parents miss that FERPA form or don't take the time to fill it out. Get informed because you do have rights," said Polonetsky. "Find that FERPA notice. Read it and decide what options are right for your child."