NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A7872A
SPONSOR: Nolan TITLE OF BILL: An act to amend the education law, in relation to the
release of personally identifiable information
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL: This bill protects personally iden-
tifiable information from release to certain third parties.
SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS:
Section 1 allows parents of students and students of 18 years of age or
older to request that personally identifiable information and/or biome-
tric record not be disclosed to certain third parties and prohibits the
education department and schools that receive the request from disclos-
ing such information of that particular student, except in cases where
they are required to do so by law, court order or subpoena, state or
federal audits or evaluations to certain authorized representatives, or
for health or safety emergencies. This section also directs SED to
develop a form to be used for such requests. Section 2 is the effective
date.
JUSTIFICATION: New York State has recently agreed to share confiden-
tial student information with commercial vendors and other corporations.
This information includes name, address, lest scores, disciplinary and
attendance records, raze, ethnicity, disabilities and other sensitive
information. Such student data is useful to corporations for business
development, marketing educational products and grant programs. At this
time, however, state law does not authorize parents and students to
protect personal data from disclosure to these third parties. This
legislation provides safeguards: it allows parents and students to
prohibit schools from sharing personal student data and directs the
State Education Department to develop the necessary information and
forms necessary for parents and students.
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY: New bill.
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS: None
EFFECTIVE DATE: This act shall take effect 90 days after it shall
become law.
