WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Congressman Blaine Luetkemeyer (MO-03) introduced the Protecting Education Privacy Act to strengthen federal student privacy standards and empower parents by giving them more control over their child’s sensitive information.

“Students in Missouri and across the country have the right to keep their sensitive information protected. Groups like trade unions and tech companies have absolutely no business using American students’ school records to obtain their test scores, attendance records, social security numbers, or sensitive health information without the students’ and parents’ consent. This bill will restore much-needed privacy standards in our country to keep our students’ most sensitive information private,” said Congressman Luetkemeyer.

Background:
In 2011, the Department of Education made sweeping regulatory changes to the Federal Education Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA). These changes significantly diminished student privacy protections and opened up student records to a whole host of entities which were never intended to have access. Under the regulations, entities such as trade unions, non-educational government agencies, and educational technology companies received student records and the personally identifiable information of students without parental consent.

The Protecting Education Privacy Act will reestablish many of the protections maintained in FERPA for nearly 40 years. It would ensure any entity designated as an “Authorized Representative” of an education agency with access to student records must be under the direct control of the agency. It would also create a prohibition on the use of student’s personally identifiable information for commercial purposes. This bill will safeguard an individual’s student records as was originally intended instead of continuing open access to our students’ information.