Tes monyaspreparedfor

CommissiononEvidenceBasedPolicymaking
MidwestPublicHearing
5January2017

Iamtes fyingtodayonbehalfofRaiseYourHandandtheParentCoali onforStudentPrivacy.

RaiseYourHandisaChicagobasedgrassrootsparentgroupthatadvocatesforhighqualitypublic
educa onforallstudentsinChicagoandIllinois.Weareaprimarilyvolunteerrunorganiza on.We
formedin2010toworkontheissueofinadequateandinequitablefundingofChicagoPublicSchools
andhaveexpandedtoworkonseveralothereduca onpolicyareas,includingstudentprivacy.
TheParentCoali onforStudentPrivacyformedin2014andisan
a onalcoali onofparentsand
advocatesdefendingtheprotec onofstudentdataprivacy.
TheParentCoali onforStudentPrivacywroteale erinNovembertotheCommissionopposingthe
crea onofac entralized,federalclearinghouseofthepersonallyiden ableinforma onofallstudents,
commonlyreferredtoasastudentunitrecordsystemorna onaldatabase.Thisle erwassignedbyve
othergroupsaswell,includingtheAmericanCivilLiber esUnionandtheNetworkforPublicEduca on.
Theriskthatafederaldatabaseofstudentunitrecordswouldposetostudentprivacyisimmense;
includingtheveryrealpossibilityofbreach,maliciousa ack,ortheuseofthisinforma onforpurposes
notini allyintended.IntheyearssinceafederalstudentunitrecordsystemwasbannedbytheHigher
Educa onActin2008,thereasonsagainstcrea ngithaveonlybecomemorecompelling.
Inthepastfewyears,muchhighlypersonaldataheldbyfederalagencieshasbeenhacked,includingthe
releaseoftherecordsoftheOceofPersonnelManagementinvolvingmorethan22millionindividuals,
notonlyfederalemployeesandcontractorsbutalsotheirfamiliesandfriends.
TheUSDepartmentofEduca oninpar cularhasbeenfoundtohaveespeciallyweaksecuritystandards
initscollec onandstorageofstudentdata,andreceivedagradeofDonthegovernmentscorecard
createdtoassesshowwellfederalagencieswereimplemen ngdatasecuritymeasuresthispastMay.
Inaddi on,preK12studentdatacurrentlycollectedbystatedepartmentsofeduca onthatwould
poten allybesharedwiththefederalgovernmentincludeupwardsof700highlysensi vepersonaldata
elements,includingstudentsimmigra onstatus,disabili es,disciplinaryrecords,andhomelessness
data.
AsprivacyadvocatesintheUKrecentlydiscovered,thepersonalinforma oninasimilarna onalstudent
databasethatthegovernmentpromisedwouldbeusedonlyforresearchpurposeshasbeensecretly

requestedbythepoliceandbytheHomeOce,inparttoiden fyandlocateundocumentedchildren
andtheirfamilies.
Wearealsoveryconcernedaboutrecentrevela onsofthewidespreadsurveillanceonordinaryci zens
bythefederalgovernment,andthewayinwhichana onalstudentdatasystemwouldbeusedto
expandthetrackingofstudentsfrompreschoolintohighschool,college,theworkforceandbeyond.A
federaldataclearinghouseofstudentinforma oncouldeec velycreatelifelongdossiersonnearly
everyindividualinthena on.
Therapidadop onoftheuseofdigitaltechnologyinpreschoolthroughhighschoolhasbeen
accompaniedbyasimilarlyrapidincreaseinthegenera onofdata edtoindividualstudentsand
collectedandstoredbythirdpartyorganiza ons.Dozensofso wareandhardwarevendorshave
productsinuseintheChicagoPublicSchoolsalone.Theregula onandprotec onofthedatagenerated
bysuchprogramsremainsanopenques on.Asthisdataisalmostalways edtoastudents
personallyiden ableinforma on,ittoocouldbeconnectedtoandatriskfromana onal
studentrecordsystem.

Therehavebeenatleasttwomajor,knowndatabreachesinChicagoPublicSchoolsinthelasttwoyears.
InMayof2015,4000studentshadtheirnames,addresses,phonenumbers,disabilitystatusandother
personalinforma oninadvertentlysharedwithvendorsrespondingtoadistrictRFP.1Thispastfall,aCPS
employeewasredforunauthorizedsharingofpersonalinforma onofmorethan28,000studentswith
achartermanagementorganiza onwhothenusedthedataformarke ng.2Studentdataisalready
highlyvulnerableevenwithoutafederaldataclearinghouse.

Inlightofalltheseconcerns,weurgeyoutostronglyopposethecrea onofa
nyc entralizedfederaldata
systemholdingstudentspersonallyiden ableinforma onandtosupportthecon nua onoftheban
inthereportyouprovidetoCongress.
AlthoughIamnowafull meadvocateforpubliceduca on,myprofessionaltrainingwasasaresearch
scien stinaquan ta veeld,computa onallinguis cs.Asascien st,Icertainlyagreethathighquality
datacollec onisacrucialingredientintheresearchprocess.Ialsoknowthattheethicalconsidera ons
inresearchusingdatafromhumansubjectsareparamountandthatwellsupportedconclusionscanbe
drawnfromsta s calsamplesderivedfromcarefullydesignedexperiments.

Wedon
otneedtotrackeverystudentfrompreschooltotheworkforceinordertocreateanecient
andsuccessfulpubliceduca onsystem,andgiventherisksandcostsofdoingso,weshouldnotdoit.

D
atabreachtriggerssharingofpersonalinfofor4,000studentsCatalystChicago.May19,2015.
h p://catalystchicago.org/2015/05/databreachtriggerssharingofpersonalinfofor4000students/
2
3
NoblecharterstaersOKdusingCPSstudentdatatorecruitC
hicagoSunTimes.Dec.23,2016.
h p://chicago.sun mes.com/news/3noblecharterstaersokedusingcpsstudentdatatorecruit/

Ifwewantevidencebasedpolicyforeduca on,weneedtoputtheburdenonexperimentaldesign,not
onourchildrensprivatedata.Researchersmustdevisewaystotesthypothesesthatrequiretheleast
amountpossibleofindividualsprivatedatajustasweminimizetheriskforphysicalormentalharmin
clinicaltrialsbecauseuniversal,lifelongdatacollec onisanunacceptablyunethicalcourseofac on.

IurgethisCommissiontoconsidertheprinciplesintheBelmontReport,wri enmorethan40yearsago
underthechargeofanearlierfederalcommission,theNa onalCommissionfortheProtec onofHuman
SubjectsofBiomedicalandBehavioralResearch:theprinciplesofrespectofpersons,benecenceand
jus ce.Thecrea onofana onaldatabaseofstudentrecordsviolatesallthreeofthoseprinciples.

Onceprivacyislostitisnearlyimpossibletorestore.Andso,weholdamoralandethicalobliga onto
ourchildrenandourci zenstominimizesuchariskinanywaypossible.

CassandreCreswell,PhD
Coexecu vedirector
RaiseYourHandAc on
2507NSacramentoAve
ChicagoIL60647
cassie.creswell@gmail.com