Policy and Privacy of Student Information in Canada
Keywords:
student privacy, educational policy, privacy legislation, data governance, Canadian educationAbstract
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights proclaims the right of individuals to receive an education directed at the full development of their personalities and the right to legal protection from arbitrary invasion of privacy.
Ninety-three officials in thirty largely urban school systems, ministries of education, and teachers' organizations were interviewed and policy documents were examined, to assess policy and practice relating to student information. The study found the following: 1/provincial legislation was inadequate to provide protection to students; 2/local system policy was largely absent and sporadically applied; 3/procedures, necessary to protect privacy, were seldom specified or followed; and 4/data was of insufficiently high quality to justify its collection, retention and dissemination.
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