Kids Online Safety and Privacy Act Passes Senate
Kids Online Safety and Privacy Act Passes Senate
After a 91-3 Senate vote, the House will now determine the future of this popular–but still flawed–children's privacy bill.
Last Tuesday (7/23/24) Senate Majority Leader Schumer introduced an amendment to add two major student and child privacy bills–the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) and the Children and Teen’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA 2.0)–to a seemingly unrelated bill–the Eliminate Useless Reports Act of 2024. This created a new bill–the Kids Online Safety and Privacy Act. Today, the Senate voted 91-3 to send the Kids Online Safety and Privacy Act to the House.
PIPC released a redline tracking substantive changes to KOSA and COPPA 2.0 in the Kids Online Safety and Privacy Act, compared to how both bills were introduced in May as amendments to the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2024. While we are still in the process of analyzing this bill, we are thrilled to see that the COPPA 2.0 portion of the bill (Title II) includes language codifying the ability of schools to consent to the use of technology for educational purposes. We are concerned that the KOSA portion of the bill (Title I) still includes several provisions that may be problematic for schools, specifically:
103(b)(2)(A)(ii) would enable parents to turn off privacy safeguards schools negotiate with edtech vendors.
103(a)(1)(D) and 121(b)(1)(B) would enable students to turn off–essentially opt-out of–adaptive tests or personalized learning.
103(b)(2)(C) and 103(a)(2) would enable parents and students to limit their screen time on a math app to five minutes per year–essentially opting-out of using that edtech platform.
We anticipate that momentum around the bill will now slow down because the House left for the summer last week and will not return until September 9th. That being said, stay tuned for more updates as the House considers this bill in the Fall.
Other Recent News, Reports, and Resources:
What does Universal Service Fund ruling mean for E-rate?, K-12 Dive
Online Health and Safety for Children and Youth: Best Practices for Families and Guidance for Industry, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
An Algorithm Told Police She Was Safe. Then Her Husband Killed Her., The New York Times
Cantwell says she'll cut path for privacy bill despite opposition, Roll Call
Department of Education Sued Following Markup Investigation Into FAFSA Data Shared with Facebook, The Markup
Protecting Kids’ Privacy, Post-Chevron Deference, TechPolicy.Press
Constitutionality of California’s Child Online Safety Law Disputed in Court of Appeals, TechPolicy.Press
Prioritizing Students with Disabilities in AI Policy, Educating All Learners Alliance and New America
Designing for Education with Artificial Intelligence: An Essential Guide for Developers, U.S. Department of Education, Office of Educational Technology
ICYMI:
Last month PIPC released three major resources:
Fixing FERPA - This series explores the current challenges of implementing the 50-year-old Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) – the U.S.’s primary student privacy law – in modern classrooms, and proposes actionable solutions to revamp FERPA’s privacy protections for the 21st century. The series currently includes FERPA 101 FAQs, A Guide to FERPA’s Exceptions and Exemptions, and our first five recommendations for how FERPA can be improved.
The Pillars of Well-Designed Student Privacy Legislation - This report highlights the twelve foundational pillars of well-designed student privacy legislation, aiming to equip state policymakers with the knowledge and tools necessary to craft and continuously improve state-level student privacy protections. By incorporating best practices and reflecting on lessons learned from other states, policymakers can develop robust frameworks to better protect student data in the modern education and technological landscape.
Mitigating Risks in Student Surveys: An Overview of PPRA- This resource offers a deep dive into the Protection of Pupil Rights Amendment (PPRA), aiming to clarify misconceptions and provide a clear understanding of when and how this law applies in educational settings. It includes a brief history of the PPRA, guidelines for applying the law, lessons learned from past misapplications of PPRA, and best practices for compliant and effective social emotional learning (SEL) survey administration in school.