Commitment to safeguarding student data continues; ParentSquare previously earned iKeepSafe Certification and reaffirmed its declaration to the K12 edtech industry’s Student Privacy Pledge
ParentSquare Inc., developer of the premier unified school-home engagement platform for K-12, today announced it has become a member of the nonprofit Access for Learning (A4L) Community’s Student Data Privacy Consortium.
Started in 1997 by vendors and schools collaborating, the A4L Community and its special interest group the Student Data Privacy Consortium (SDPC) is a unique, non-profit collaboration composed of more than 3,000 schools, districts, local authorities, states, US and International Ministries of Education, software vendors and consultants. The A4L Community is committed to a common set of national and state-wide privacy standards that support these educational stakeholders in establishing common expectations regardless of the platform hosting those applications. The SDPC is specifically designed to address the day-to-day, real-world, multifaceted issues faced when protecting learner information by setting expectations between market providers and end users.
“Protecting student data and privacy is critical in today’s learning environment,” ParentSquare Chief Strategy OfficerDr. Chad A. Stevens said. “Our membership with A4L is just one more step we’ve taken to ensure greater governance of our data privacy best practices as we remain steadfast in our commitment to protect student data privacy.”
ParentSquare’s membership with A4L will simplify the procurement process for districts that have selected the school-home communications platform giving them greater confidence in knowing that the technology platform meets the highest standards of privacy protection required by their respective state authorities.
Previously, ParentSquare earned the iKeepSafe Privacy Certifications and also reaffirmed its commitment to the latest version of the Student Privacy Pledge (introduced by the Future of Privacy Forum and the Software & Information Industry Association), which is a legally binding and public declaration to safeguard student information—joining over 200 other signatories in the edtech industry.
“As a co-founder of the SDPC and a current ParentSquare customer, I appreciate ParentSquare’s thorough and collaborative approach to student data privacy,” Chief Information Officer of Cambridge Public Schools Steve Smith said. “Their adherence to industry-standard security protocols and privacy requirements are important so schools, students and caregivers can have the utmost confidence in the school-home communications platform.”
ParentSquare (http://www.parentsquare.com), founded in 2011, is based in Santa Barbara, CA.
The American Consortium for Equity in Education, publisher of the "Equity & Access" journal, celebrates and connects the educators, associations, community partners and industry leaders who are working to solve problems and create a more equitable environment for historically underserved pre K-12 students throughout the United States.
