Federal Privacy Laws

Photo by Allison Shelley for EDUimages is marked CC BY-NC 4.0

CIPA and COPPA

There are several federal laws that work together in an effort to keep children safe online. One is the Children's Internet Privacy Act, or CIPA. CIPA works to protect children from accessing obscene and harmful content on the internet by requiring schools and libraries to use internet filters. This law is tied to federal funding - in order for an institution to continue receiving federal funds that help pay for Internet and hardware, they have to use internet filters. I think that this law is effective in helping keep our students safe. At my school district we use Securly as a web filter in our schools. We have found this to be effective in catching students trying to access inappropriate content online. Another aspect of CIPA is the Protecting Children in the 21st Century Act which states that schools have extra requirements: "they must provide for educating minors about appropriate online behavior, including interacting with other individuals on social networking websites and in chat rooms, and cyberbullying awareness and response." This means school districts must have a digital citizenship curriculum in place to ensure their students are learning to navigate online spaces safely and respectfully. This would help decrease cyberbullying. 

The other law is the Children's Online Privacy and Protection Act, or COPPA. This law puts restrictions on websites and apps so that they don't gather and save information from children under the age of 13. Websites need to get parental permission before collecting data on their children. COPPA is the law that has determined the age limit of 13 to use social media. The intention of COPPA is to put parents in charge of their child's social media usage. Keep in mind that the Federal Trade Commission says that teachers can stand in the place of a child's guardian and grant permission for them to use a website for educational purposes. 

I think that CIPA and COPPA work together nicely in an effort to keep students safe. CIPA regulates schools while COPPA regulates website and app companies. With the internet constantly evolving and our student's use of online tools growing, we have to ask if they are enough. What is stopping children under the age of 13 impersonating a parent or teacher in order to gain access to certain websites and apps? Children that are not being properly supervised by caregivers can easily lie with the tap of a button. How can we teach our students to be both truthful and cautious online? We have to believe in the power of our digital citizenship curriculums in teaching these important skills to our students. 

What does this mean for teachers?

As educators that use technology and social media with our students we need to be aware of privacy laws. A school district's technology specialist or coordinator will be in charge of making sure they are in compliance with CIPA and COPPA, however here are a few things that classroom educators should be doing:

1. Make sure that a website or app you are using with your students is on your school district's approved list. When in doubt, check with your school's technology specialist.
2. Clearly communicate with parents about what tech tools you are using and make sure you get written parental consent before students use social media.
3. Try to avoid websites and apps that have a lot of advertising. 
4. Using technology (and social media) in the classroom means that teachers must also be teaching digital citizenship skills as well. Ensure you are implementing consistent lessons in digital citizenship

Resources:

Common Sense Media - What is coppa? 

Common Sense Media - Essential guide to digital citizenship for CIPA and E-Rate

International Association of Privacy Professionals - COPPA in the Classroom 

Federal Trade Commission - Children's Internet Protection Act