SafeGov.org and Ponemon Institute study shows UK schools moving rapidly to adopt Cloud Computing, but overwhelmingly reject business models that allow cloud providers to mine student data for profit.

A new report by an Internet industry forum has shed some interesting light on the use by schools of Cloud computing services for their students. While concluding that there has been a rapid acceleration in take-up of these services the report highlights a number key privacy concerns surrounding the practice.

On May 10th, the 2nd Annual Higher Ed Privacy & Information Management Forum was held at George Washington University Law School, co-hosted by the Cornell University and sponsored by SafeGov.

Four months after the Federal Trade Commission passed sweeping updates to the children's online privacy law, the agency released a key document that websites and mobile apps directed to children will need to consult in order to become compliant by July 1.

I had the pleasure of having the opportunity to interview Kathleen Styles about cloud computing in education. Styles is the first chief privacy officer of the U.S. Department of Education (ED). Previously, she served as the chief of the Office of Analysis and Executive Support at the U.S. Census Bureau. Without further ado, here’s the interview.

Advances in technology present opportunities to improve student learning, allow teachers and students to work more efficiently, and reduce operational costs for educational institutions. Many schools are taking advantage of these benefits by implementing online course systems and cloud computing services that allow students and teachers to access their programs, e-mails, and documents online from anywhere and almost any device.

Do children still have an expectation of privacy? Every day our personal privacy is slowly being eroded because of advances in technology. New inventions have enabled our society to more efficiently mass produce food; create the infrastructure to warm our homes and offices in the winter and cool them in the summer; and to invent digital devices that allow us to communicate and share information from around the world and outer space almost instantaneously.

Massachusetts lawmakers could soon consider a bill that would restrict the commercial use of data gathered while children use computers at public schools.

Massachusetts has become the first state to introduce legislation that would ban companies that provide cloud computing services from processing student data for commercial purposes. MA Bill 331 is sponsored by Rep. Carlo Basile and it was referred to the House Committee on Education on January 22, 2013. MA Bill 331 states, "Section 1. Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary any person who provides a cloud computing service to an educational institution operating within the State shall process data of a student enrolled in kindergarten through twelfth grade for the sole purpose of providing the cloud computing service to the educational institution and shall not process such data for any commercial purpose, including but not limited to advertising purposes that benefit the cloud computing service provider."

It's hard to read an IT trade journal these days without seeing several articles highlighting the promise that big data analytics offer to various industries. At a high level, more data about health care and outcomes can help lead to better future diagnoses and treatments. More data about students also holds promise, offering the potential to improve learning and help identify student weaknesses in ways that are not possible today. But as new technologies such as big data analytics usher in new opportunities, we also have the responsibility to ensure those technologies are used in ways that meet our laws and cultural norms.