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Los Angeles
Internet
Intellectual Property
Privacy
Social Media
Technology
The Good Stuff
Sacramento San Francisco
What
is
COPPA?
The Children’s Online Privacy Protection
Act, known as COPPA, requires websites
and any company that provides a platform
of any kind online or via mobile
technology, to get parental consent before
collecting or sharing information for
children under the age of 13.
As more unique and engaging education
products emerge on the market, it is
important to make sure that any websites
or applications used in the classroom or
recommended to parents are COPPA
compliant.
The FederalTrade Commission, who
enforces this law, has a variety of resources
for educators and parents alike on best
practices and tools.
The
Law:
Long-‐Standing
Precedent
&
New
Cases
to
Be
Aware
Of
➡ Tinker
v.
Des
Moines
(1969): Filed by the parents of high school
students prevented by school officials from wearing black arm bands in
protest of theVietnam War. The Court stated that the students had
the right to express their opinions as long as it did not “materially or
substantially” interfere with appropriate disciplinary requirements or the
rights of others.
➡ New
Jersey
v.
TLO
(1985): School searches may be permissible when
the measures adopted are reasonably related to the objectives of the
search and not excessively intrusive in light of the age and sex of the
student and the nature of the infraction.
➡ Robbins
ex.
rel
Robbins
v.
Lower
Merion
School
District
(2010):
Court prohibited Lower Merion School District from surveying
students by remotely accessing the webcams included on their school-
issued laptops.
➡ G.C.
v.
Owensboro
Public
Schools
(2013): A search is justified if there
is reasonable suspicion that it will uncover further wrongdoing or injury
to either the student or another person. Simply using a cell phone on
campus does not trigger an automatic right for a school official to
conduct a search if its contents. Contents searched on a cell phone
must be related to the infraction at issue.
➡ N.N.
v.
Tunkhannock
Area
School
District
(2011): School principal
was found to have acted inappropriately when he turned student’s cell
phones over to police to report what he believed to be inappropriate
photos stored in the phone’s memory.
➡ Mendoza
v.
Klein
Ind.
Sch.
Dist.
(2011):An associate principal’s search
of a student’s phone was considered justifiable for the purposes of
determining whether the student had used the phone while in school.
However, the act of viewing individual texts stored on the phone may
be considered unreasonable.
What’s
On
the
Horizon
➡ The Social
Media
Privacy
Act, signed into law by California Governor
Jerry Brown, was enacted to protect students at universities and
employees in California from the demand of their usernames and
passwords on social networking services.
➡ There could be future amendments or other legislative efforts that
would apply to K-12 schools, with exemptions for instances involving, for
example, bullying investigations.
#nerdlawyers
It’s
Not
“You”
v.
the
“Students”:
Educa.on
on
Privacy
Online
Content
Make sure students are aware of the
content they produce and the content
that they consume.
Conduct
Not everyone is engaging in appropriate
conduct online. Individuals are accountable
for their actions. Inform students that
actions online are public and permanently
archived.
Context
Educate students on context. Know if you
are communicating privately or publicly.
Understand the privacy rules and settings
for the platforms you are using.
Contact
Work with students to understand there
are hackers and scammers online.