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The Federal Trade Commission announced ramped-up enforcement of education technology companies that sell student data for targeted advertising and that 鈥渋llegally surveil children when they go online to learn,鈥� in violation of federal student privacy rules.

鈥淚t is against the law for companies to force parents and schools to surrender their children鈥檚 privacy rights in order to do schoolwork online or attend class remotely,鈥� the federal agency said in a media release Thursday. 鈥淯nder the federal Children鈥檚 Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), companies cannot deny children access to educational technologies when their parents or school refuse to sign up for commercial surveillance.鈥� 

Through a , the commission signaled its intent to 鈥渟crutinize compliance鈥� with COPPA, the federal law that limits the data that technology companies can collect on children under 13 without parental consent. The statement, approved through a unanimous bipartisan vote by the five commissioners, reminds education technology companies that they are prohibited from using student data for commercial purposes, including for marketing and advertising, should not retain student data for a period longer than what鈥檚 deemed 鈥渞easonably necessary,鈥� and must have sufficient security to ensure data remain confidential. Additionally, tech companies must not exclude students who do not disclose more personal information 鈥渢han is reasonably necessary for the child to participate in that activity.鈥� 

Is your kid using education technology? Read on:

— FTC (@FTC)

The policy statement comes at a critical moment for education technology companies. When the pandemic shuttered schools nationally and forced children into remote learning, their place in the education landscape grew exponentially as educators relied more heavily on their services. But they鈥檝e also faced scrutiny for their data collection practices, particularly in the wake of high-profile breaches. recently notified students that their personal data was compromised in a breach at the company Illuminate Education. The hack exposed the personal information of some , the nation鈥檚 largest school district.

The FTC statement does not introduce any new rules, yet it makes clear that education technology and student privacy are an enforcement priority. Weak enforcement of student privacy rules has been a longstanding problem, said Cody Venzke, senior counsel at the nonprofit Center for Democracy and Technology.

Suggesting that the federal government had gone too easy on ed tech companies in the past, President Joe Biden criticized student surveillance practices on Thursday and signaled his support for greater student privacy protections. 

鈥淲hen children and parents access online educational products, they shouldn鈥檛 be forced to accept tracking and surveillance to do so,鈥� Biden said in a statement. The FTC, he said, 鈥渨ill be cracking down on companies that persist in exploiting our children to make money.鈥� 

Among the services and applications that saw significant growth during the pandemic are those that monitor students鈥� online activities on school-issued devices and technology. Company executives say their digital products are critical to identify youth who are at risk of harming themselves or others, but critics argue the surveillance violates students鈥� privacy rights. 

社区黑料 has reported extensively on the expanding presence of such student surveillance companies, including Gaggle, which sifts through billions of student communications on school-issued Google and Microsoft accounts each year in search of references to violence and self-harm. Company executives say the tools save live,s but critics argue they could surveil students inappropriately, compound racial disparities in school discipline and waste tax dollars.

In one recent story, former content moderators on the front lines of Gaggle鈥檚 student monitoring efforts raised significant questions about the company鈥檚 efficacy and its effects on students鈥� civil rights. The former moderators reported insufficient safeguards to protect students鈥� sensitive data, a work culture that prioritized speed over quality, limited training and frequent exposure to explicit content that left some traumatized. 

In , FTC Chair Lina Khan said that 鈥渃ommercial surveillance cannot be a condition of doing schoolwork.鈥� 

鈥淭hough widespread tracking, surveillance and expansive use of data across contexts have become increasingly common practices across the broader economy,鈥� Khan said, the policy makes clear that federal law 鈥渇orbids companies from wholesale extending these practices into the context of schools and learning.鈥� 

The FTC鈥檚 comments on surveillance, Venzke said in an email, suggest that the agency will scrutinize the practices of education technology vendors that collect 鈥渢roves of sensitive information about students’ lives, including student activity monitoring software vendors.鈥� 

鈥淪tudent activity monitoring companies must ensure they are taking appropriate steps to not only secure the sensitive data they collect on students, but also to ensure that they are collecting only the absolute minimum data that they need to achieve a legitimate educational purpose 鈥� and then that they delete the data when it is no longer needed,鈥� Venzke said.

A Gaggle spokesperson didn鈥檛 immediately respond to a request for comment. In on Thursday, the company noted that it takes 鈥渄ata security very seriously,鈥� only uses student information for educational purposes, has a strict data retention policy and has comprehensive security standards. The post said the company does not sell student data or engage in targeted advertising. 

Numerous companies have faced fines in recent years for violating the federal privacy law. In 2019, for example, YouTube paid to settle allegations it collected childrens鈥� data without parental consent and used it for targeted advertising. that same year to settle similar allegations. 

Despite the commission鈥檚 harsh critique of surveillance, the enforcement of student privacy rules will likely go beyond companies that monitor students online, said attorney Amelia Vance. the co-founder and president of Public Interest Privacy Consulting. She interpreted the FTC announcement to broadly encompass 鈥渟urveillance capitalism,鈥� where personal data are collected and sold for profit. However, she noted that Gaggle and other monitoring companies could have particular problems. In its announcement, the FTC said it is unreasonable for education technology companies to retain student data 鈥渇or speculative future potential purposes.鈥�

鈥淪o much of the monitoring information collected and kept, especially when it comes to tracking the mental health of students, it could easily, arguably be speculative,鈥� she said. 鈥淭hat could cause confusion from companies about what obligations they have to either collect certain data or not collect certain data or not retain certain data even when the school has asked for it.鈥� 

The FTC announcement follows a recent investigation into student monitoring companies by Democratic Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Ed Markey, which warned of surveillance companies鈥� potential harms and called on the Federal Communications Commission to clarify the provisions of another federal law, the Children鈥檚 Internet Protection Act, which requires schools to monitor students鈥� online activities.

In response to the FTC statement, a bipartisan group of senators cautioned that threats to online privacy have reached 鈥渁 crisis point.鈥� 

鈥淲e applaud the FTC鈥檚 attention to this urgent problem and its acknowledgment that a child鈥檚 education should never come at the expense of their privacy,鈥� said a statement released by Markey, fellow Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal and Republican Sens. Bill Cassidy and Cynthia Lummis. 鈥淭he FTC鈥檚 policy statement is an important step in the right direction, but it is not a replacement for legislative action.鈥�

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