A new California bill signed by Governor Jerry Brown on Aug. 25 will limit the personal information schools can collect from students. Spearheaded by Assemblywoman Melissa Melendez, Assembly Bill 2097 (AB 2097) prohibits school districts from collecting sensitive information such as Social Security numbers from students except when required by federal and state law. The bill comes six months after a 2011 lawsuit by two nonprofits against the Department of Education forced schools to turn over student records.  The ensuing controversy eventually caused the judge to overturn her original decision. While not a perfect solution,  AB 2097 does represent a great step forward for the privacy and protection of California students, which should take precedent over any reason that is not life-threatening. For the sake of our safety, it is imperative that our confidentiality rights continue to be preserved.

To understand the full qualifications of AB 2097, one must first look into the controversial January court ruling that sparked the debate of student privacy rights. Two nonprofits, the Morgan Hill Concerned Parents Association and the California Concerned Parents Association, sued the Department of Education for violations of special-education laws among various schools, demanding access to student records in order to prove wrongdoing. The data given to the nonprofits included names, Social Security numbers, addresses and other information specific to each student. Judge Kimberly Mueller ruled in favor of the nonprofits and ordered data of over 10 million students to be turned over, but the decision caused so much outrage from parents that she reversed her decision on March 1, before anything was released.

“It alarms me that I as a parent have no say in the release of my daughter’s and my family’s private information to these strangers,” English teacher Sandra Sidella said. “I am not oblivious to the fact that personal information is no longer truly personal, but to give nonprofits power to take personal information of students when those organizations have no credentials is not a viable move.”

It is unfortunate that such a measure had to be taken in the first place, but AB 2097 does a lot to right the wrongs of the nonprofit fiasco. It is imperative that the standards of the Federal Educational and Rights Privacy Act (FERPA) are adhered to, and whether or not the nonprofits had legitimate claim to the data to begin with is questionable. However, by preventing school districts from collecting Social Security numbers and other personal information unless explicitly ordered to by federal or state law, AB 2097 alleviates the fears of parents and guardians that their child’s privacy will be breached. It minimizes the risks put on students should their records be turned over legally by the government or unintentionally leaked. Also, it allows nonprofits and other organizations to collect necessary data without accessing sensitive information, thus creating a desirable outcome for all parties involved.

However, there are some that think AB 2097 does not cover the important issues that are endangering student privacy. Rather than not allowing the data to be collected at all, critics believe that school districts should instead be prohibited from releasing the information in the first place.

“I think that the bill misses the real problem,” junior Ishan Gaur said. “The real problem is not that schools have students’ Social Security numbers or other personal information, but rather that the government has the jurisdiction to force schools to make it public.”

AB 2097 is not a foolproof bill, and some of the arguments against it do hold merit. But in terms of getting closer to a safe privacy standard for students, it is still a much-needed improvement, and helps prevent sensitive information from falling into the wrong hands.