Student Data and Privacy
As part of your student's education, Sycamore Community School District 427 partners with education technology (“ed tech”) companies to provide services such as digital curriculum, educational resources, and analytical tools.
We are committed to protecting the information security and privacy of our students in accordance with the latest version of the Student Online Personal Protection Act (SOPPA). SOPPA is the data privacy law that regulates student data collection and use by schools, the Illinois State Board of Education, and ed tech vendors.
On August 23, 2019, Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker signed into law an amended version of SOPPA that gives parents greater control over student data. Among the changes is a new requirement to enact breach notifications that are available to the public. SOPPA also requires Illinois school districts to provide additional guarantees that student data is protected when collected by ed tech companies and used for beneficial purposes only. The law is effective July 1, 2021.
Before establishing a relationship with a company, the District verifies that the vendor is compliant with the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), Children’s Online Privacy Protection Rule (COPPA) and SOPPA. The District will only provide the minimum amount of data required to maintain service functionality for each vendor.
Parents will be notified within 30 days of any data breach affecting more than 10% of the students.
District Privacy Agreements (DPAs)
View a list of all ed tech vendors with whom Sycamore Community School District 427 has established Data Privacy Agreements with. This list also includes the Terms of Service and Privacy Policy of each application utilized by the district. In the event of a conflict between their posted Terms of Service and Privacy Policy, the National Data Privacy Agreement (NDPA) takes precedence.
Not all applications will be used by all students at all grade levels and directory information is only shared with an application when utilized by the student or classroom.
Any new vendor Sycamore Community School District 427 establishes a relationship with will be posted to our privacy agreement database within ten (10) days.
Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA)
The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) and the Illinois Student Records Act afford parents/guardians and students over 18 years of age (“eligible students”) certain rights with respect to the student’s education records. Read more about the rights of parents and students in the parent-student handbook.
Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA)
The Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) restricts the collection of personal information from children under 13 by companies operating websites, games, mobile applications, and digital services that are directed to children or that collect personal information from individuals known to be children.