Dive Summary:
- New York City plans to use student education data cloud InBloom to store sensitive information such as names, emails, phone numbers, photos, which will be stored along with grades, test scores, health conditions, disabilities and detailed disciplinary records.
- Thousands of parents have e-mailed city and state officials over concerns about the information being shared with private contractors, as well as fears of the data being intercepted or accessed by unwanted parties.
- The education officials in charge of the project also led the NYC Department of Education's $100 million ARIS supercomputer project, which three studies have called a bust.
From the article:
... If this information leaks out or is improperly used, it could stigmatize a child and damage his or her prospects for life. The state and the city are setting themselves up for multimillion-dollar class-action suits if and when these data breaches occur. The data inBloom receives from the education department will be placed in a vulnerable data cloud. Many technology professionals do not trust clouds for their more sensitive data. ...