TikTok's future in the United States is currently a hot topic, but edtech companies that handle student data are also facing increased scrutiny as data privacy concerns have grown in recent weeks.
upon. On February 14, Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) sent a letter to U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin requesting that he contract with multiple states and the U.S. Department of Defense to provide online tutoring services to students. expressed concern about Tutor.com. , military personnel and their families. Primavera Capital Group, a Chinese private equity firm, acquired Tutor.com and The Princeton Review in January 2022, according to the letter. Primavera also has invested in ByteDance, the Chinese parent company that owns TikTok, and Cotton's letter asked the agency to explain its safety review of Primavera's acquisition of Tutor.com.
“While providing educational services, Tutor.com collects personal data about its users, including location information, Internet protocol addresses, and the content of tutoring sessions,” Cotton wrote. “Because China's national security law requires companies to release sensitive business and customer data to the Chinese government, we have paid to release the personal information of our military and their children to the Chinese Communist Party. It means that
The letter sparked a wave of online activity, much of it from right-leaning websites and local publications reporting whether their local school districts had used Tutor.com's services.
by email to government technology This week, Tutor.com's Interim Chief Institutional Officer John Calvello outlined the steps the company is taking to protect personal data. This includes voluntarily requesting a review from the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States to ensure that the company has “mechanisms in place to protect the personal data of all U.S. students and provide ongoing monitoring and compliance.” Contains permission.
Tutor.com also has a binding legal agreement with the U.S. government that states that Primavera has no access to its IT systems or personal data. The designated security personnel who continuously monitor the technology and ensure data protection measures are U.S. citizens who have been vetted by the U.S. government. Additionally, two members of Tutor.com's board of directors are also vetted American citizens and experts in U.S. national security and data security, and are also responsible for protecting user privacy. Calvello wrote.
“Personal student and family information is not shared with Primavera, and Primavera does not have, and may not have, access to our IT systems,” Calvello wrote, noting that the company's principal offices are in New York City. added. “As an American company, Tutor.com cannot be forced to release the personal data of American students or families to China or a foreign government. We remain committed to the values, goals and practices we have championed over the more than 20 years we have served, and foremost among them is protecting the data of our customers and learners.”
While general paranoia about data privacy can cause a PR storm for companies without any public evidence of wrongdoing, privacy advocates and news headlines alike have raised concerns about student data privacy. This suggests that these concerns are well-founded. Last month, the nonprofit College Board, which administers the Advanced Placement Program and the SAT, paid a $750,000 settlement to the New York State Department of Education after New York Attorney General Letitia James collected her personal information. Agreed. The act of a student taking her PSAT, SAT, or AP exam at a school and unfairly selling that data to colleges, scholarship programs, and other customers who recruit the student. The AG's office estimates that more than 237,000 students were affected in 2019 alone, according to a news release last month.
The College Board, which contracts with school districts, provides online accounts where students can register for tests and use search tools to find information about higher education institutions and financial aid opportunities. New York state law prohibits companies that contract with educational institutions from using student data for commercial or marketing purposes.
“Students are stressed enough when applying for college and don't need to worry about their personal information being bought and sold,” James said in an official statement.
The College Board responded to James' announcement on its website, noting that it disagrees with the interpretation of the privacy law at issue and insisting there is no evidence that colleges or scholarship organizations have “misused” the student information they receive. did. .
“Search is proven to have a positive impact on college admissions. Students who connect with colleges through search receive 29% more admissions offers,” said a statement from the College Board. “These gains were even more pronounced for underrepresented minority students, who saw a 65 percent increase in admissions offers, and a 55 percent increase in admissions offers for first-generation college students.”
Student privacy will continue to be a topic of discussion in the coming months. Internet Safety Labs (ISL), a nonprofit organization that works to ensure product safety in the digital world, and Common Sense Media, a nonprofit organization that promotes digital citizenship in K-12, are We're continually researching the latest and greatest education technology tools for. Leakage and lack of privacy. In a 133-page report from December 2022, ISL found that 96 percent of those apps shared student information with third parties, based on a review of 1,357 education apps recommended to 663 schools. estimated that. A follow-up report in June 2023 found that most schools do not scrutinize all technology used by students and, regardless of “safe harbor” certification or other privacy promises made by ed-tech products, they concluded that student data from the tool was still being leaked to schools. Big platforms like Facebook and Twitter.
Common Sense Media also expressed similar concerns in a 2023 article The current state of children's privacy report.
“Meaningful consent requires consumers to know which companies and products are claiming to be selling their data, as well as knowing which companies and products are selling their data, as well as all users' “We need to know of stronger, more comprehensive state or federal privacy laws that prohibit the practice. We clearly have,” the report said. “Without these basic expectations, the industry will continue to profit from influencing and exploiting children and families’ data for commercial purposes, while claiming to respect privacy.”
