Weekly IP Buzz for the Week Ending April 17, 2020
In this week's post, we see how the global pandemic has caused a rapid increase in the use of online schooling via online services and mobile applications. As such, privacy concerns have arisen regarding the transfer and access to students’ personal data and information.
The Rush for Online Schooling Raises Privacy Concerns
The rapid spread of the coronavirus caught much of society off-guard. As millions of people were ordered to stay home as the virus spread, educators found themselves facing an entirely new dilemma: how to teach students without access to the traditional classroom setting. In its stead, educators have looked to the Internet to remotely connect with students for online schooling. However, this solution has raised digital privacy concerns as it requires students to submit data to be reviewed by educators; often without the proper privacy protocols in place that would protect sensitive data.
Because the systems used online or the mobile applications rolled out by technology companies were launched so quickly due to the online schooling need, many lack the standard terms and conditions or privacy policies that often accompany them. Similarly, many educators have not been apprised of the risks and legal ramifications of using such online schooling methods without first securing proper permission from parents or guardians.
Thus, without conducting the proper vetting or due diligence that normally accompanies such rollouts, many schools, educators, administrators, and technology companies have found themselves on the wrong end of accusations of privacy violations and overstepping as online schooling continues.
Find the key takeaways and full article here.
Click to read the previous Weekly IP Buzz on Thriving Attorney.
For more posts, see our Intellectual Property Law Blog.
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In addition to Thriving Attorney, Darin M. Klemchuk is founder of Klemchuk LLP, a litigation, intellectual property, and transactional law firm located in Dallas, Texas. Click to read more about Darin Klemchuk's practice as an intellectual property lawyer.