While the U.S. Department of Education (DoE) wants to encourage colleges and the tech companies they work with to protect student data, the DoE’s power to protect those taking free online courses is essentially nonexistent, reports The Chronicle of Higher Education. Education information, specifically that pertaining to massive open online courses, or MOOCs, is seldom FERPA-protected, according to DoE CPO Kathleen Styles. The department has little power to impose privacy standards on those courses because “MOOCs are seldom paid for with Title IV, government-funded dollars.” One high-profile MOOC provider, however, said it believes it is subject to and will comply with all FERPA requirements on data it collects, the report states.
Full Story