Colo. legislators seek protections for students’ data

Colorado legislators are considering how to keep student data safe when in the hands of third-party vendors.

The Senate Education Committee on Thursday voted 9-0 to advance a bill to expand protections for students. The proposed legislation would create new state regulations for companies that provide online services to schools.

Sen. Chris Holbert, R-Parker, and Rep. Dan Pabon, D-Denver, are sponsoring SB15-173. If the bill passes it would prevent vendors from:

•Selling student information;

•Using student information for targeted advertising;

•Using student information to create profiles unrelated to school purposes;

•Revealing student data unless specific requirements are met.

“Really you have to question a company’s motives when they’re preying on school-age kids to make money,” said Trevor Timmons, director of technology for the Weld RE-4 School District. “Granted, I think most of them are not in that position, but this (legislation) would ensure that the companies we’re dealing with as a school district have to uphold the same restrictions that we do.”

Districts partner with online companies for a variety of services. Weld RE-4 uses New York-based company Amplify to track students grades and attendance online. The district uses another company to monitor student proficiency in reading.

The companies allow teachers to be more efficient, provide parents with more information about their students and make it easier for schools to report test scores and other required information to the state, Timmons said.

The Colorado Department of Education suggests vendors for school use to help ensure districts statewide are collecting and reporting the same information, said Valerie Hubert, data manager for Weld RE-4.

The CDE requires all public districts to use the online vendor Pearson Education, Hubert said. Among other things, Pearson administers the state-mandated Colorado Measures of Academic Success (CMAS) assessments. The company analyzes student results and reports the information to the state.

“We are not in the business of selling personally identifiable student data or permitting its use for targeted advertising,” Pearson said in a statement to the Coloradoan. “Student data privacy is of utmost importance to Pearson. We care deeply about protecting the privacy of students, teachers and customers.”

SB15-173 is not expected to affect vendors who partner with state universities, Colorado State University spokesman Kyle Henley said. “This bill is really targeted to K-12 schools, not higher ed.”

Representatives from Poudre School District were unavailable to comment on how the district might be affected by the legislation.

Thursday’s vote moves the bill to the Senate floor. Sen. Vicki Marble, R-Fort Collins, was among the Senators who passed the bill out of committee.