Higher Education Privacy Officer Utah System of Higher Education, United States
Session Abstract: FERPA is the bedrock of student data privacy protection in the United States. But while statute and regulation establish IR offices’ data protection responsibilities, those responsibilities are operationalized in action by USDE in the form of action letters. This session presents the results of a comprehensive documentary review of USDE action since the 1980s, providing a holistic picture of FERPA in practice. The review focuses on describing USDE’s typical process for responding to complaints; elaborating USDE’s understanding of key FERPA provisions, especially where these shape responsibilities that are not explicitly stated in statute or regulation; identifying data practices that USDE has consistently found to be permitted by or in violation of FERPA; and characterizing the overall long-term stability of USDE’s interpretation of FERPA. While the presentation describes typical USDE administration action, it does not provide statutory interpretation or legal advice.
