LEGISLATIVE UPDATE
Several recent developments, at the state and national level, threaten to change the face of privacy regulation, including: - New child privacy legislation introduced in Congress calling for a study regarding the effect of commercialism in schools to student privacy.
- A Congressional measure that would establish opt-in requirement for lists pertaining to driver’s information.
- The Federal Trade Commission issued its final rule to implement the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act of 1998.
|
NEW CHILD PRIVACY BILL INTRODUCED IN CONGRESS
BILL ORDERS STUDY ON COMMERCIALISM IN SCHOOLS
| | |
Expressing concerns about privacy and commercialism in schools, Rep. George Miller (D-CA) introduced legislation aimed at protecting student privacy and parent’s rights to information about their children’s education.
Specifically, the Student Privacy Protection Act, would "ban the collection of any information in school from any student under 18 for commercial purposes without getting written parental consent."
The impetus for Miller’s legislation was his concern about commercialism and direct advertising of products in the classroom, and access to students for marketing surveys in return for gifts to schools.
"Students should go to school to learn, not provide companies an edge in the hotly contested youth market," said Miller. "But increasing numbers of companies are targeting schools as the best place to learn the purchasing preferences of young people."
Miller’s legislation also calls for a broad Government Accounting Office (GAO) study regarding the prevalence and effect of commercialism in schools.
The main portion of the GAO study that will affect Kids in the Know members focuses on how these commercial arrangements in schools affect student privacy, "particularly in regards to new technologies such as the Internet, including the type of information that is collected about students, how it’s used, and the manner in which schools inform parents before information is collected."
"By requiring parental consent for a student to contribute to any market research in school, students and parents … will be able to make informed decisions as to whether to reveal personal information that companies otherwise might not be able to obtain," said Miller, who was joined at his announcement by representatives from the National Parent Teacher Association and the Consumers Union.
During his comments, Miller also mentioned the ZapMe! Corporation which provides free computers with limited Internet access to schools in California but then monitors students’ Web browsing habits, breaking down the data by age, sex and ZIP code.
"By raising the issue of commercialism in the classroom, my goal is not to usurp local decision making by schools, but rather to protect parents and students," said Miller.
| | |
