Few districts have full-time role focused on student privacy

A recent report published by the nonprofit Center for Democracy and Technology argues that school districts need to hire a chief privacy officer to protect student data and oversee privacy policies. But few districts have anyone in these positions, or even a full-time staffer whose role focuses on privacy, EdSurge reports.With the creation of a student data privacy officer position two years ago, Denver Public Schools is one of at least two, very large public school districts that have leaders who takes on similar responsibilities. The position was created to make sure the district not only complied with federal privacy laws such as FERPA, COPPA, and CIPA, but also state student privacy legislation.In Maryland, Baltimore County Public Schools created in 2016 the director of innovation and digital safety, which was created amid privacy concerns due to the increasing role of technology in classrooms. Jim Corns, the first to hold this position, worked with the legal team, oversaw how data moved in and out of the system, and developed a data-sharing agreement, EdSurge reported.