Education Blockchains: But First, Consider FERPA
A guest series focused on privacy by the U.S. Department of Education’s Privacy Technical Assistance Center (PTAC)
The U.S. Department of Education’s First Summit on Education Blockchains in June 2019 brought together educators, administrators, data experts, and industry experts to discuss the potentials for blockchains in education. Participants of this one-day event represented many different perspectives from stakeholders and solution providers who stand to make the most innovative contributions to the future of education data. Participants collaborated and discussed their approaches, ideas, and obstacles in an open and helpful way.
Threaded throughout this exchange of ideas was an ongoing conversation on the intersection of blockchain technology and the education data space.
Our team at the U.S. Department of Education’s Privacy Technical Assistance Center (PTAC) joined the conversation to contribute additional perspective on education privacy law and help data solution providers understand how future uses of blockchain can mesh with existing privacy law. We invited participants to pitch ideas for education blockchains use cases and we recommended how to make them potentially compliant with FERPA and adhere to privacy best practices with an activity based on the premise of “Shark Tank.”
Why Blockchain?
The U.S. Department of Education has identified some opportunities for leveraging blockchain technology to promote data privacy and enhance educational and workforce opportunities, particularly for traditionally disadvantaged students.
Blockchains can provide a trusted, verifiable record of data. One area of interest in education has been for credentialing or degree awarding. For example, California community colleges and Arizona State University are already using blockchain as a secure and verifiable way to reverse transfer credits for students who transfer into Arizona State four-year programs from an eligible community college.
This allows community colleges to award associate degrees when enough credits are earned post-transfer, giving those who do not complete a four-year program something to show for their work. This system may also improve four-year program completion rates.
But this may just be the beginning. Technology innovators are continuing to create new and creative ways of harnessing blockchain in the educational data space.
Trends of the Day
While all the ideas discussed at the Summit were incredibly innovative, we noticed that many of our Shark Tank participants had not fully considered the privacy implications of laws like FERPA. This highlighted a need for training and awareness around the myriad data privacy requirements that impact student data use. Privacy was a hot topic and we were able to present insights that vendors and solution providers may not have accessed yet by engaging with a privacy partner. We expect this will lead to continued conversations and collaboration at the intersection of privacy and data use within next generation education blockchain solutions.
Our Suggestion: Consider Privacy by Design
To navigate privacy policy and ethical data use considerations, we recommend that vendors take a “privacy-by-design” approach. With a firm, upfront understanding of what fits within the bounds of the law, institutions and blockchain developers will save both time and money as they engineer new solutions while significantly reducing the risk of inadvertent FERPA violations.
To accomplish this, we suggest that privacy experts such as our team at PTAC be looped in at the ideation phase of any proposed blockchain solution. That is part of why we exist!
When developers take a foundational approach to privacy and consider FERPA from the outset of development, they can avoid many common privacy pitfalls. FERPA should not be a barrier to innovation in education data, especially when it is considered in the ideation phase.
Continuing the Conversation
Another important takeaway from the Summit was how useful and important it is to continue to have conversations that incorporate all perspectives, privacy included. With continuous collaboration, innovators can go further and develop more thoughtfully-designed uses for blockchain in the education data space.
As a result, the 2019 Summit was not just a one-time event. We were excited to continue these conversations at the second Summit on Educational Blockchains in January and we will have additional reactions and take-aways posted as part of a separate, forthcoming blogpost.
The Privacy Technical Assistance Center (PTAC) is a U.S. Department of Education technical assistance resource that helps state and local entities and a variety of education stakeholders understand best practices in data privacy, confidentiality, security, and managing student-level data. PTAC subject matter experts serve as partners with education agencies and help to address potential weak points in their privacy and data security efforts. As a result of this work, more than 300,000 staff, administrators, faculty, students, and parents are trained on how to protect student and educator records. PTAC has touched nearly every state and territory in the U.S. with either an onsite engagement or an interaction with their help desk. Learn more about PTAC and their offerings here.
