Document scanning standards are crucial for student privacy
When schools are adopting document management programs as a means of making their behind-the-scenes operations more efficient, they may be inadvertently putting students' privacy at risk. While it can be more difficult for someone to take a digital file safeguarded behind layers of security than a physical one, there are still questions of risk and privacy that need to be addressed at an institutional level.
One such issue is that schools with document management platforms that allow students to submit documents or assignments online may be tracking everything that student writes, even if it's not related to schoolwork, according to the Electronic Frontier Foundation. These programs could also keep track of files that are attached to school email accounts.
Understanding the situation
That information can then be misused in a number of ways, from data aggregation and reporting to even sharing it, the EFF cautioned. That not only creates additional risk in a data breach or leak, but also could lead to adverse effects from administrators or teachers if the wrong information is shared inadvertently.
Potential issues
Another area where this kind of privacy can be important is when kids deal with the school nurse for medical issues, according to Becker's Hospital Review. School nurses have to follow the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, while doctors and other medical support staff follow the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act. If a school nurse shares medical records or information with a student's pediatrician, he or she may not be violating federal law; but if the information goes in a student's file, that could create a privacy issue.
Similar issues around other disclosures may also exist, and need to be dealt with at an administrative level, the report said.
For these reasons and more, schools need to prioritize student privacy and set rigid standards about what information is to be collected and – just as importantly – what isn't. Those standards need to be communicated, both to students and their parents (who need to know their data will be handled appropriately), and both teachers and administrative staff (who need to know how to handle it in the first place).
