Following is a Dear Colleague letter from Rep. George Miller, the sponsor of the Student Privacy Protection Act. I plan to offer a modified version of this legislation when the Committee takes up the remainder of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. Increasingly, classrooms are being used by market researchers to try and get kids to reveal valuable information about themselves. This information is used to target students with laser like precision and may be sold or transferred to other companies. Many of these commercial activities during the school day are disruptive and compromise student privacy as well as the parent-child relationship.
Corporation provides schools with free computers but then monitors students' web browsing habits.
While the costs and benefits of these arrangements can argued, parents should know when their children are being used for this purpose and have a right to say no. My bill gives parents that right. The Student Privacy Protection Act would require that parents give their informed consent before schools allow companies into classrooms to collect information on their children. This will allow parents to retain more control over how the school day is spent and to make a more informed decision as to whether they want their children to reveal personal information that private companies otherwise might not be able to obtain. The amendment I plan to offer will apply to information that is collected in school for commercial purposes.