Incorporating technology into classroom instruction has the potential to transform learning experiences and improve student outcomes, but without proper guidelines and safeguards in place, there is a serious risk of violating student privacy and creating other harms. Over the past two years, a confluence of factors–including cellphone bans normalizing technology restrictions, pandemic learning loss narratives, high-profile data breaches, and growing parental demands for individual opt-out rights–has fueled calls to restrict or entirely remove edtech from schools. In December, NTIA convened the first major federal listening session on screen time in schools, signaling heightened federal attention to these concerns.

This presentation will address the current federal and state legal landscape governing technology procurement and use in schools, including FERPA, COPPA, and the 150+ state student privacy laws passed since 2014. We will then explore how pending federal activity could reshape school-vendor relationships and consent requirements—from heightened FERPA enforcement and Congressional parental rights proposals to the FTC’s evolving position on school consent authority and COPPA 2.0’s effort to codify it into statute.

Attendees will gain insight into the factors driving parental and policy pushback against edtech, learn how well-intentioned privacy proposals can create unintended consequences that harm the students they aim to protect (including equity impacts when individual opt-out requirements disadvantage marginalized students), and explore frameworks for modernizing student privacy protections in ways that preserve educational opportunity while strengthening data governance.