House Bill on Student Data Privacy Walked Back
From Politico's story (and hats off to Politico reporter Stephanie Simon for simply excellent work): When President Barack Obama called earlier this year for a new federal law to protect student privacy in an era when children increasingly learn online, he called the concept “pretty straightforward.” But the bipartisan bill to be introduced Monday — which was drafted in close collaboration with the White House — has proved anything but. The bill lets education technology companies continue to collect huge amounts of intimate information on students, compile it into profiles of their aptitudes and attitudes — and then mine that data for commercial gain. It permits the companies to sell personal information about students to colleges and employers, and potentially to military recruiters as well. And it em...