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Colo. lawmakers taking on student data privacy

Posted at 5:11 PM, Jan 13, 2016
and last updated 2016-01-13 21:41:53-05

Two Colorado lawmakers want to make sure your child’s school data does not fall into the wrong hands as they make the switch from pencil and paper to stylus and iPad. 

Rep. Alec Garnett, D-District 2, and Rep. Paul Lundeen, R-District 19, are working on a bi-partisan bill that would look into the data being collected and make changes if it doesn’t positively serve the learning process. That means protecting the data from hackers or other commercial interests. 

“If there’s not a good learning purpose associated with the collection of that data, then in fact, that will be visible and I think people will question perhaps our policies and the method we use to teach [them] may change,” said Rep. Lundeen.

“We’re trying to strike a balance to make sure that we’re recognizing that data is a good thing, data makes teachers better and stronger, but at the same time, that data needs to be used properly and protected and enforced in a really strong way,” said Rep. Garnett.

Denver7 spoke with a Denver Public School representative who said the district takes digital security very serious and works to make sure student data isn’t accessible outside of the building and district network.

The bill is currently being drafted and is set to be introduced in February. This is likely one of dozens of education-related bills to be introduced this session in what is expected to be partially headlined by education-related topics.

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