While Superintendent of Public Instruction Diane Douglas tightens up security at the Arizona Department of Education buildings, she announced last week the further erosion of child data privacy rights in the “successful launch of AzEDS (Arizona Education Data Standards), Arizona’s new education data system. Douglas called the launch “a major milestone,” and “nothing short of extraordinary.”
According to confidential sources, Douglas has changed security access to the ADE building. The public no longer has the open access provided by former Superintendent John Huppenthal and his predecessors.
Douglas had expressed extreme discomfort with her office on the top floor of the main ADE building on Jefferson Street. That office, formerly occupied by previous superintendents, made her feel like “like a fish in a bowl.” She said specifically that she would not feel comfortable unless the large windows facing the inner hallway “were frosted or something.” As a result of her need for more privacy, Douglas and her Chief of Staff have taken up office space at the Central Street high-rise office building occupied by other ADE departments.
Considering her need for privacy, many believe she would have more empathy for parents, who hope to protect their kids’ privacy. However, Douglas has refused to answer any questions about the delivery of PII to private entities. According to Bradley, the Superintendent is studying the issue.
While some are concerned about the cost associated with her actions to protect her own privacy and security, sources confirm that “while spending might be considered unwise by some, or many, none of her spending diminishes what schools receive. She is only using funds appropriated by the Legislature for agency operations, which were a lump sum with few or no strings attached.”
As far as resources are concerned, Douglas claims that the ADE IT Department has “done so much with so few resources and now their tireless work will reap untold benefits for Arizona schools and students.” The press release announcing the IT “milestone,” is devoid of any mention of students’ privacy.
However it is the cost students may pay for losing their privacy and the resulting loss of security that have that so many concerned. According to a group of Arizona residents working to protect students’ Personally Identifiable Information, It’s My PII (http://itsmypii.com), Powerschool, the 3rd party vendor contracted to operate AZ’s SLDS, is owned by Pearson.
“As a leader in Student Information System solutions, we are excited to partner with ADE on their industry-leading AzEDS project,” said PowerSchool Managing Director Bryan MacDonald. “Ambitious projects like AzEDS are often challenging, but we share ADE’s vision and are committed to helping make AzEDS successful. While working to successfully complete the certification process for AzEDS with the ADE IT team, we were impressed with their ability to collaborate simultaneously with both schools and vendors throughout the state.”
It is clear that Douglas and her team have no intention of doing anything different from her predecessor, who doled out kids’ data like Halloween candy. AzEDS is required by the Federal government pursuant to Arizona’s NCLB waiver. The Federal government requires this system be interoperable, meaning accessible between states. So aside from the delivery of data to the Federal government via EdFacts, there is no telling who will have access to data.
Related articles:
Part I: ADE Agrees To Share Students’ Personally Identifiable Information
Part II: Who’s mining your kid’s data?
Opponents to “totally data mined existence” face stiff opposition
Nat’l Science Foundation grants $5M to Carnegie Mellon University to suction student data
According to sources, the ADE does not now require proof that the data they have delivered in the past was destroyed once it was used for whatever prupose the reciepient had. Those who have received the data in the past, were not required to indemnify the State should they experience a data breach.
We know that the ADE has disregarded privacy laws in the past. One contract authorized the release of student PII prior to effective date of the Executive Order in 2012, in which student privacy rights were weakened by President Obama. Nothing in the ADE’s press release, or their current actions show a desire to protect anyone but Douglas.