Law / United States / 
District of Columbia
Protecting Students Digital Privacy Act of 2016, 1-to-1 programs
In force since .
A sensitive categories rule binding public and private bodies.
- Obligation class
- Prohibition, Retention, Disclosure
What it requires
- School-based personnel, including an employee of an entity the school contracts with who acts as the school's agent at the school or at activities it sponsors (section 38-831.01(16)), must not access the data or functions of a student's 1-to-1 device without the written consent of the student or the student's parent, except as section 38-831.03 provides (section 38-831.03(a)).
- School-based personnel must not access, analyze, share or transfer data on a student's 1-to-1 device, including its browser history, key stroke history or location history, unless the data will be used exclusively for an educational purpose consistent with the personnel's professional duties, exclusively to ensure compliance with District or federal law, on reasonable suspicion of a violation with reasonable suspicion that the device holds evidence of it, to update the device's software or protect it from cyber-threats, in response to a threat to life or safety, or because the data is posted where the general public or permitted school personnel can see it (section 38-831.03(b)).
- Within 72 hours of accessing device data in response to a threat to life or safety, the educational institution that authorized the access must give the student and the student's parent a written description of the precise threat that prompted the access and what data was accessed (section 38-831.03(b)(5)(B)).
- School-based personnel must not use a 1-to-1 device's location tracking technology to track the device's real-time or historical location, unless the student or parent has reported the device missing or stolen, the device was not returned at the end of the permitted period, a judicial order or warrant orders it, or a threat to life or safety makes it necessary and the access is limited to that purpose (section 38-831.03(c)).
- Within 72 hours of accessing a device's location tracking technology in response to a threat to life or safety, the educational institution that authorized the access must give the student and the student's parent a written description of the precise threat and the data and features accessed (section 38-831.03(c)(4)(B)).
- School-based personnel must not remotely activate or access the audio or video receiving, transmitting or recording functions of a student's 1-to-1 device, unless the student initiates a video or audio communication with school-based personnel or the device provider, a judicial order or warrant orders it, or an imminent threat to life or safety makes it necessary and the access is limited to that purpose (section 38-831.03(d)).
- Within 72 hours of activating or accessing a device's audio or video function in response to an imminent threat to life or safety, the educational institution that authorized the access must give the student and the student's parent a written description of the precise threat and the data and features accessed or activated (section 38-831.03(d)(3)(B)).
- When a student permanently returns a 1-to-1 device to an educational institution, the institution must erase all the data stored on the device (section 38-831.03(e)).
- Before issuing a student a 1-to-1 device, the educational institution must give the student written notice that school-based personnel can search, track or access the device under subsections (b), (c) and (d) of section 38-831.03 (section 38-831.03(f)).
These lines are LexLint's reading of the law's text.
What this law does
A 1-to-1 program is a program authorized by an educational institution in which a student is provided with a 1-to-1 device for overnight or at-home use. School-based personnel may not access the data or functions of a student's 1-to-1 device without the written consent of the student or the student's parent, except as the section provides.
School-based personnel may not access, analyze, share or transfer data on a student's 1-to-1 device, including its browser history, key stroke history or location history, unless one of six listed grounds applies. When personnel access device data in response to a threat to life or safety, the educational institution must give the student and parent a written description of the precise threat and the data accessed within 72 hours.
School-based personnel may not use a 1-to-1 device's location tracking technology to track its real-time or historical location, unless the device is reported missing or stolen, was not returned at the end of the permitted period, a judicial order or warrant orders it, or a threat to life or safety makes it necessary.
School-based personnel may not remotely activate or access the audio or video receiving, transmitting or recording functions of a student's 1-to-1 device, unless the student initiates the communication, a judicial order or warrant orders it, or an imminent threat to life or safety makes it necessary. When a student permanently returns a 1-to-1 device, the educational institution must erase all the data stored on the device.
Before issuing a 1-to-1 device, an educational institution must give the student written notice that the device can be searched, tracked or accessed by school-based personnel. School-based personnel include an employee or volunteer of an educational institution and an employee of an entity with whom the educational institution contracts, who acts as an agent of the educational institution at the institution or at activities it sponsors. Sections 38-831.02, 38-831.03 and 38-831.04 apply as of .
When LexLint raises it
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