For immediate release, March 14, 2013 For more information: Leonie Haimson leonie@classsizematters.

org ; 917-435-9329 NYC PARENTS, ATTORNEYS AND PUBLIC OFFICIALS PROTEST STATE AND CITY PLAN TO PROVIDE CONFIDENTIAL STUDENT DATA TO CORPORATIONS Today, on the steps of Tweed, parents, advocates, attorneys, and public officials protested data piracy: the plan of the NY State Education Department and the NYC Department of Education to share highly sensitive, personally identifiable student and teacher data without parental notification or consent, with a corporation called inBloom Inc. In turn, inBloom plans to put this private information on a data cloud and share it with for-profit vendors. The information will include personally identifiable information: including student names, test scores, grades, home addresses, email addresses, linked to grades, test scores, disciplinary and arrest records, special education status, race, economic status and health conditions. Yesterday, Assemblymember Daniel ODonnell introduced a bill in the Assembly, A6059, to block this reckless plan, and to require parental consent before any confidential information is shared. Leonie Haimson, Executive Director of Class Size Matters: Thousands of parents have emailed the State Education Department and DOE in recent weeks, protesting this plan, and hundreds have sent letters to the state and city demanding that their childrens private data not be shared with inBloom Inc., or any other corporation or third party vendor. None of them have gotten any response. The fact that this plan is being carried out without even telling parents reflects the State and Citys carelessness with children's lives and a general disdain for parental rights. If this project was really designed for the benefit of students, why not notify their parents, and allow them to decide whether the educational potential outweighs the risk? 86 percent of IT professionals do not trust clouds for their more sensitive data; inBloom Inc. has said that it cannot guarantee the security of the information stored or that the information will not be intercepted when it is being transmitted. The State and the City would be liable for multimillion dollar class action suits if and when this information leaks out. I want to thank Assemblymember ODonnell for introducing a bill that will protect our children from harm and may save taxpayers millions of dollar in legal damages.

Announced Assemblymember Daniel ODonnell: "Students and parents have a fundamental right to privacy and to control over their own information. It is imperative that we protect those rights, and this is why I introduced A6059 this week. Under this bill, student information cannot be disclosed without explicit parental consent, and students needs will once again be prioritized over those of the private companies seeking to profit from our children." Karen Sprowal, NYC parent of a child with disabilities, said: If most parents knew about this plan, they would be outraged as I am. My sons medical records are in his educational file, as I have to partner closely with his school to ensure his needs are met. The health care law known as HIPAA would prevent any of these confidential medical records from being shared without my consent; why does the State or the City think they can violate my rights as a parent by disclosing them without consulting me? He and other children could have their life prospects severely damaged if this information leaks out. Already, it is difficult for schools to collect free lunch forms from parents because they dont trust the forms will be kept confidential. What will happen when parents find out that their economic information may be shared with for-profit vendors? Our school and many others could lose millions of dollars of Title One funds as a result. The agreement to disclose student records of New York school children is unprecedented and creates real and immediate privacy risks for New York school children and their families. Student records about school children and their families should not be released to private entities without the consent of the parents, said Norman Siegel, famed civil rights attorney. "I don't want my kids' privacy bought and sold like this. What parent would, especially without their consent? We have to get protections in place to keep companies from profiting off personal information collected in our schools," said Public Advocate Bill de Blasio. "I applaud Class Size Matters for mobilizing parents to assert their rights and protect their children's privacy." John Liu, City Comptroller, stated: The agreements between the Gates Foundation, inBloom Inc., Rupert Murdochs Wireless Generation, and eScholar on the one hand and the NYS and NYC Departments of Education on the other raise significant questions. Both eScholar and Wireless Generation have executives with business and political connections to Mayor Bloomberg. Even more disturbing is the possibility that these relationships and agreements will lead to the hand-off of significant personal data about the one million students in the New York

City public schools for use by private, profit-making organizations to design so-called customized educational solutions. We do not believe that this is good educational policy and we are doubly concerned about a violation of our students right to privacy. I call on both the City and the State DOEs to come forward with full transparency about these relationships and their intentions for the use of this data. "I'm deeply concerned by the State Education Department's plans to share personal data on our kids with outside vendors and, potentially, third parties seeking to use it in the development of commercial educational products," said Sen. Liz Krueger (D-Manhattan). "At the very least we must ensure that parents are fully informed and give their consent before any data is shared. If the city and state Departments of Education will not meet that basic minimum, I will explore introducing state legislation requiring parental notice and consent, and creating stiff penalties for unauthorized sharing of student data and its misuse for commercial purposes." Parents entrust the Department of Education with very detailed, personal student information. The very notion that this personal data is be shared with companies and set up on a privately created and controlled data cloud, concerns me. The fact that it is being done without the express consent of parents and guardians or a disclosure is an outrageous violation of basic rights. Even more disturbing is the purpose behind these actions: enabling for-profit corporations to develop curriculum materials that will be marketed right back to the DOE. Theres no guarantee that this sensitive data wont be leaked or abused and there is no guarantee that the products will improve student outcomes. When did our students become involuntary and unpaid focus group members that are helping corporations with product development? said Council Member Robert Jackson, Chair of the Education Committee. As parents expect the DOE to protect their childrens schools with safety officers and security guards, parents have every right to expect that their childrens confidential information will be guarded with the same vigilance. Council Member Gale A. Brewer said: "The personally identifiable information of school children and parents being disclosed by DOE for commercial purposes is unprecedented in its scope, detail, and invasion of privacy. DOE's decision to make such disclosures about children without the consent of their parents violates our most basic cultural norms and many Federal statutes intended to protect child privacy. There should be no such disclosures by DOE or any other public agency until the parents of New York City school children have had an affirmative right to consent or

opt out, and until full public hearings are held about the purpose of these disclosures and the rules that must govern them." Council Member Rosie Mendez said: I join with my friends at Class Size Matters in calling on the New York State and New York City Departments of Education to immediately put comprehensive protections in place to ensure that the privacy rights of our students are thoroughly protected. At an absolute minimum, such protections should include: parental notification (including consent and opt-out provisions); hearings to inform parents of current disclosure practices and to gather feedback; and procedures for families to obtain relief if the privacy rights of students are improperly used and/or disseminated. NYC and NYC Department of Education must give parents and care givers the option to opt out from sharing their childs personal information. Not only does this pose a serious threat to a students privacy but can follow him or her for a life time. Children must be protected not treated as a commodity, said Council Member Leticia James. Donna Lieberman, Executive Director, New York Civil Liberties Union, said: The State Education Department and DOE have repeatedly blocked access by advocates to key information about whats going on in schools, claiming student privacy. In that context, their willingness to turn over our childrens most private information to for-profit companies is outrageous. Mayor Bloomberg and Commissioner King need to partner with parents before companies, and must be as transparent with New Yorkers as they are with InBloom.

###