New York kids get better school data security than Kentucky’s students???

The legislature in New York just enacted laws that end a dubious relationship between that state’s department of education and an Internet Cloud service provider known as InBloom, which is a nonprofit funded by the Gates Foundation.

New York’s new law provides:

• The state department of education cannot store identifiable student data in the Web-based InBloom Cloud

• Prohibitions against the department from giving student information to entities that collect and store data for use in a data dashboard or portal

• That the department must insure InBloom erases all data currently held, even non-identified data

Here in Kentucky, concerns continue about the safety of our students’ personal data in school files. Senate Bill 224 would have addressed the issues, but it never received a vote. House Bill 5 has some data protections, but more may be needed to insure Kentucky’s students don’t face a lifetime of consequences from inappropriate use of their personal information.

Hopefully, the legislature will continue inquiries in the interim session to fully evaluate the dimensions of the issues in the Bluegrass State.