FPF Student Privacy Train-the-Trainer Program

About the Program

Since 2013, over 130 new student privacy laws have passed in 41 states, with more bills and regulations being rolled out each year. This has resulted in many new requirements for local and state education agencies. Some state laws include the threat of jail or large fines when school staff even unintentionally violate student privacy. Unfortunately, few states have received funding or support in implementing these new laws and, without training, none of the laws can be implemented with fidelity.

At the same time, new federal guidance and settlements are continually released, changing past understandings about FERPA, COPPA, and other related federal student privacy laws. These federal changes combined with the state student privacy legal landscape makes it hard for attorneys serving schools and districts to keep up and provide the most accurate advice to their clients.

This isn’t only a legal problem: as technology changes and the amount of information schools collect and maintain increases, ensuring that new educators and administrators come into their schools with the skills needed to adequately protect student privacy in their day-to-day work and conveying best practices to schools is extremely challenging.

Recognizing the demand for practical, informed privacy guidance, the Future of Privacy Forum, a nonprofit focused on consumer privacy, launched a 10-month Train-the-Trainer pilot program in February 2020 to multiply the people on the ground with the capacity to provide basic student privacy support. The program helps to build the capacity of local education agency (LEA) and education service agency (ESA) staff to help the schools and districts they serve, equips college of teacher education professors and staff to integrate student privacy best practices and important legal trends into their institution’s curriculum, and trains attorneys for K-12 educational agencies and institutions to advise their clients and train their peers on this changing legal landscape. In 2022, FPF decided to transition to a new format of three different two-and-a-half-month compressed programs, each focused on a different audience

Program Objectives

Knowledge: Expand and deepen your student privacy and security knowledge.

Networking: Establish ongoing relationships with a close cohort of student privacy professionals.

Training: Acquire resources and relationships needed to train and influence others.