SOPPA Info For Teachers -- Part 1

 I am going to start a series of posts about SOPPA. Often, laws about student information and privacy do not have a direct impact on the classroom teacher, as the compliance is managed at the district level. However, SOPPA, which goes into effect on July 1, 2021, will have an impact on teachers at the classroom level, so I am hopeful that the information I share in these posts will be useful to you!

SOPPA stands for Student Online Personal Protection Act. As you are well aware, students use numerous online services as part of their learning. As more services become available, there is also increasing concern over what student data and information is being collected by these online services and how that data and information is being used. SOPPA is intended to make that information more readily available and transparent to parents as well as to ensure that any data and information collected is safeguarded and used to help maintain a beneficial learning experience for students. 

What kinds of student information are we talking about? This includes anything that is personally identifiable information about the student, or information that is linked to personally identifiable information. This might include things such as

• Educational records
• Student email address
• 
  First and last name
• Home address
• Phone number
• Special education data
• Grades
• Health and medical records
• Social security number
• Biometric information
• Disabilities
• Socioeconomic information
• Food purchases
• Documents
• Search activity
• Photos
• Voice recordings
• Geolocation information

Many of these kinds of information are maintained at the district level, but some of these things teachers have at the classroom level, and some of these things are shared when students use online services for learning. For example, any time a student logs in to an online service, some of this information is shared with the online service -- likely things like name and email address, but it could also be things like location information, and documents or files, too. One of the things SOPPA intends is to determine which online services (called "operators" in SOPPA language) are collecting what kinds of student information.

Bottom line -- what does this mean for you as a classroom teacher? It means you will need to be aware of which services collect student information and whether or not our district is currently able to use that online service with students. Don't worry -- more information will be coming to you on how that will be done!

Next week: What Are the responsibilities of the operators?

Resources for this post:

• Illinois Compiled Statutes information about Student Online Personal Protection Act
• Learning Technology Center of Illinois legislation brief -- Student Online Personal Protection Act (SOPPA) Changes
• SOPPA Teacher Presentation shared by Phil Howard, Lake Zurich CUSD 95
• Ready or Not: Legal Matters, Illinois Association of School Boards
• The Adoption of SOPPA May Provide a Tough Lesson for Schools that Fail to Comply, Local Government Lowdown, Tressler LLP