United StatesProtection of Pupil Rights Amendment, parental inspection of surveys, limits on surveys that reveal protected information, and local policies on student information collected for marketing
20 U.S.C. 1232h; 34 CFR Part 98
In force since .
A sensitive categories rule binding government bodies.
- Enforcement body
- U.S. Department of Education
- Instrument type
- an act of a legislature
- Obligation class
- Consent, Disclosure
What it requires
- If you are a local educational agency that receives funds under any applicable program, develop and adopt policies, in consultation with parents, on the collection, disclosure or use of personal information collected from students for the purpose of marketing or for selling that information (or otherwise providing it to others for that purpose), including arrangements to protect student privacy (20 U.S.C. 1232h(c)(1)(E)).
- Do not require a student, as part of any applicable program, to submit to a survey, analysis or evaluation that reveals information about political affiliations or beliefs, mental or psychological problems, sex behavior or attitudes, illegal, anti-social, self-incriminating or demeaning behavior, critical appraisals of close family relations, legally privileged relationships, religious practices, affiliations or beliefs, or income (other than income needed to determine eligibility), without the student's prior consent if an adult or emancipated minor, or the parent's prior written consent if an unemancipated minor (20 U.S.C. 1232h(b)).
- In the same policies, address a parent's right to inspect, on request, a survey created by a third party before it is administered or distributed to a student, the arrangements to protect student privacy when a survey on the subjects above is administered, and a parent's right to inspect any instrument used to collect personal information for marketing before it is administered or distributed (20 U.S.C. 1232h(c)(1)(A), (B) and (F)).
- Give parents notice of those policies directly, at least annually at the beginning of the school year and within a reasonable time after a substantive change; notify the parent directly, annually at the beginning of the school year, of the specific or approximate dates when marketing-information collection, sensitive-item surveys and nonemergency, invasive physical examinations or screenings are scheduled or expected; and offer the parent an opportunity to opt the student out of those activities (20 U.S.C. 1232h(c)(2)).
- The marketing-information policy requirement does not apply to personal information collected from students for the exclusive purpose of developing, evaluating, or providing educational products or services for, or to, students or educational institutions (20 U.S.C. 1232h(c)(4)(A)).
These lines are LexLint's reading of the law's text.
What this law does
A student may not be required, as part of any applicable program, to submit to a survey, analysis, or evaluation that reveals information on any of eight listed subjects, among them political affiliations or beliefs, mental or psychological problems, sex behavior or attitudes, religious practices and income, without the prior consent of the student if an adult or emancipated minor, or the prior written consent of the parent of an unemancipated minor.
A local educational agency that receives funds under any applicable program must develop and adopt policies, in consultation with parents, on the matters the subsection lists. The policies must cover the collection, disclosure, or use of personal information collected from students for the purpose of marketing or for selling that information, or otherwise providing it to others for that purpose, including arrangements to protect student privacy.
The policies must also cover a parent's right to inspect, on request, a survey created by a third party before a school administers or distributes it to a student.
The agency must give parents notice of the policies directly, at least annually at the beginning of the school year, and must offer the parent an opportunity to opt the student out of participation in an activity described in subparagraph (C), which covers marketing-information collection, sensitive-item surveys and certain nonemergency, invasive physical examinations or screenings.
The marketing-information policy requirement does not apply to personal information collected from students for the exclusive purpose of developing, evaluating, or providing educational products or services for, or to, students or educational institutions. Personal information means individually identifiable information including a student or parent's first and last name, a home or other physical address, a telephone number, or a Social Security identification number.
The Secretary of Education enforces the section, and may terminate assistance only on determining that there has been a failure to comply that cannot be secured by voluntary means. Where a contractor found not to comply does not comply within the period the Department sets, the Secretary may direct the contracting officer to take an appropriate action authorized under the Federal Acquisition Regulations, including a notice to suspend operations or to terminate for default.
Public Law 107-110 added subsection (c), the local policy, notice and opt-out requirements. That amendment took effect on , except with respect to certain noncompetitive and competitive programs.
When LexLint raises it
When your app profile says your app serves K-12 schools.
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