InBloom Presentation-12 18 13-Hudson Valley Community College

8/13/2019 InBloom Presentation-12 18 13-Hudson Valley Community College

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On the threat to student privacy and

safety represented by inBloom, Inc.

Common Core forum

Hudson Valley Community College

December 18, 2013


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inBloom Inc. is a non-profit corporation funded by $100M from the GatesFoundation to collect and share personally identifiable student data withvendors.

The information is being uploaded onto a cloud operated by Amazon.com.

In NY State, districts have been told they must sign up for data

dashboards from three vendors, ConnectEDU, eScholar or NCSPearson/Schoolnet, populated with student data from inBloom cloud.

inBloom plans to commercialize this sensitive data, with state & districtconsent, and provide it to additional for-profit vendors, to help them developand market their learning products.

Wireless Generation/Amplify, a subsidiary of Rupert Murdochs NewsCorp,is building inBloomsoperating system.

What is inBloom Inc.?


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inBloom Timeline May 5, 2011:NYSED sends letter to the State Comptroller, asking approval of a $27

million no-bid contract with Wireless Generation, to build states longitudinal student data

system

June 8, 2011:Daily News breaks the story of this proposed contract. Controversyensues, primarily as a result of conflict of interest, as 6 months before, Wireless boughtby Murdochs News Corporation, just days after Joel Klein announced he would resignfrom DOE to work at the company.

July 2011:News Corp engulfed in a huge scandal, including allegations that itsnewspapers in the UK engaged in phone hacking. Several advocacy groups & NY statelegislators urge State Comptroller to reject contract based on privacy concerns.

Aug 25, 2011:NY State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli rejects contract: in l ight of the

signi f icant ongo ing invest igat ions and cont inu ing revelat ions with respect to NewsCorporat ion, we are returning the contract w ith Wireless Generat ion unappro ved.

December 13, 2011:the NY Board of Regents approves NYSEDs plan to share studentdata with Shared Learning Collaborative LLC, with an operating system built by Wirelessfor $44 million. Contract bypasses State & City Comptroller because no funds initially

change hands.
http://www.classsizematters.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/sed-letter-re-wireless-5.5.11.pdfhttp://www.nydailynews.com/blogs/dailypolitics/2011/06/company-overseen-by-joel-klein-poised-to-clean-up-with-27m-no-bid-state-contrahttp://www.reuters.com/article/2011/07/18/us-newscorp-quickguide-idUSTRE76H5SA20110718http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/07/18/us-newscorp-quickguide-idUSTRE76H5SA20110718http://www.nydailynews.com/blogs/dailypolitics/2011/06/company-overseen-by-joel-klein-poised-to-clean-up-with-27m-no-bid-state-contrahttp://www.classsizematters.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/sed-letter-re-wireless-5.5.11.pdfhttp://www.classsizematters.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/sed-letter-re-wireless-5.5.11.pdfhttp://www.classsizematters.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/sed-letter-re-wireless-5.5.11.pdf


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Timeline (part II) October 10, 2012: Class Size Matters, NYC parents and our

attorney write to SED, urging them to hold hearings and give parentsthe right to consent before childrens personal data is shared with

inBloom.

October 24, 2012: SED says will not hold hearings since plans arepublic knowledge already yet few if any elected officials, parents,superintendents or school board members are aware.

February 6, 2013: the Shared Learning Collaborative becomes

inBloom inc.

March 3, 2013: Stephanie Simon of Reuters writes the first nationalstory about inBloom inc.


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Parent protests erupt throughout nation &8 of 9 inBloom states pull out or put plans on hold

April 19, 2013: Louisiana Superintendent John White pulls data out ofinBloom.

May 4, 2013: Georgia Superintendent assures parents that he will notdisclose any student data to inBloom.

May 29, 2013: Reuters confirms Delaware, Georgia and Kentucky have noplans to share data with inBloom.

August 1, 2013: The only NC pilot district, Guilford Co., pulls out of

inBloom.

Nov. 7, 2013: After anti-inBloom slate of candidates sweeps election, JeffCo. school board votes to withdraw & Colorado severs all ties to inBloom.

November 26, 2013: Illinois says will keep data system separate & make

data-sharing with inBloom optional; Chicago immediately pulls out.


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What information is being shared?

The highly sensitive data that NYSED intends to share with inBloomand other dashboard vendors includes student names, addresses,phone nos., emails, grades, test scores & proficiency levels,ethnicity, economic, racial and disability status, health (504)conditions, attendance and suspension records.

The info will include students records from day they enroll in school,

includingup to 12 yrs of data for HS students.

NYSED urging districts to share even more detailed information,including health & pregnancy information, family structure andimmigration records.

If information leaks out or misused could imperil childs security,

safety & future, including college admission & employment.


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What is inBlooms goal?

InBloom claims that this project will lead to greater efficiency, dataanalysis and integration, and create a vibrant market inpersonalized learning tools by allowing vendors to data-minestudent information.

Ken Wagner of NYSED says that service providers, tools andstandards will converge in "a magic mix that hasn't come togetherbefore."

In NYC, the Department of Education spent $80M on ARIS datasystem, with data dashboards also built by Wireless Generation.Many of same claims were made, yet ARIS is rarely used andconsidered by many a boondoggle.


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Dashboards will also include warning flags and

behavioral incidents

Sample dashboard from inBloom video


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In a recent survey, 86% of technology experts say they do not trustclouds to hold their organizations more sensitive data.*

inBloomssecurity policy states they canno t guarantee thesecur i ty of the informat ion s tored in inBloom or that the

inform ation w i l l not be intercepted when it is being

transmitted.

In April, the personal information of 50 million customers ofLivingSocial was inadvertently disclosed when an Amazon.comcloud was hacked into .

The sharing of personally identifiable student data with inBloom isbeing done without parental notification or consent.

*Lieberman Software's 2012 Cloud Security Survey

What about security?


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Though NYSED claims inBloom FERPA-compliant, FamilyEducational Rights and Privacy Act regulatingprivacy of educationalrecords weakened by US Dept of Ed in 2009 and 2011 to encouragedata sharing with contractors & authorized agents without parentalconsent.

US Dept of Ed has now been sued in federal court for rewritingFERPA regulations in way violating original intent and language oflaw.

The same data stored in childs health records or gained throughonline usage could NOT be shared with any 3rdparties withoutparental consent, acc. to HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and

Accountability Act) or COPPA (Childrens Online Protection Act)

What about privacy?


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Issues with the dashboards-- even if there are no breaches

Minor incidents will now enter into a students permanent

record and be easily accessible to teachers and othersthrough the dashboards.

Research shows that teachers tend to stereotypestudents based on prior knowledge and that this canbecome a self-fulfilling prophecy.

If dashboards reveal details in an academic ordisciplinary history before teachers have met students,this can create negative expectations that seriouslyimpair their prospects.


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Considerable costs & risks tostates/districts

Starting in 2015, inBloom says it will start charging states/ districtsfor its services by $2-$5 per student per year.

Data dashboard vendors will charge an additional $1-$3 per year;additional fees will incur for any other software tools using data from

the inBloom cloud.

If this data leaks out or is used inappropriately, the potential cost tothe state or district from class action lawsuits is far greater, sinceinBloom & Gates Foundation have insulated themselves from legal

liability.

inBloom says it is now also explor ing charging vendors for its

services. If not selling student data, this could be likened to rentingit out.


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Sample racial, economic, language data to bebeing collected by inBloom

Source: https://www.inbloom.org/sandbox


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Sample disability & medical datacollected by inBloom, Inc.

Source: https://www.inbloom.org/sandbox


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Huge resistance from district officials&electeds of both parties as well

Recent survey: 75% of NYS school board members oppose inBloomplan; 78% say parents shd be allowed to opt out

At least 40 superintendents have returned RTTT funds & are optingout of data dashboards (though NYSED says will share their student

data anyway)

Mary-Fox Alter, Pleasantville Superintendent says student privacybetter served in criminal justice system than inBloom/dashboardplan

50 Assemblymembers have signed letter to Commissionerexpressing their serious concern.

Sen. Flanagan calls for 1 yr moratorium on Education Portal.


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What about legislatively? Last session, two bills were passed with bipartisan support by NYS

Assembly to block inBloom.

A.6059A sponsored by ODonnell would bar re-disclosures ofpersonal student data without parental consent, and would requirefull indemnification for data breaches.

A.7872A sponsored by Nolan would allow parents the right to optout of their childs personal data being shared with any third parties.

Identical versions of these bill have been introduced in the NYSSenate, by Senator Martins, S.5930, and Senator Robach, S.5932.

Sen. Flanagan has introduced new privacy bill, S. 6007, allowing fordistrict opt out of Education portal but not parent opt out
http://open.nysenate.gov/legislation/bill/S5930-2013http://open.nysenate.gov/legislation/bill/S5932-2013http://open.nysenate.gov/legislation/bill/S6007-2013http://open.nysenate.gov/legislation/bill/S6007-2013http://open.nysenate.gov/legislation/bill/S5932-2013http://open.nysenate.gov/legislation/bill/S5930-2013


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Data collection/connection withCommon core

InBloom sold itself as helping states and districts attainhigher standards with CC aligned materials and softwaretools.

With uniform tests and test score data across nation,multi-state databases more valuable to vendors &groups like Gates Foundation.

Through federal stimulus funds & RTTT, US Dept of Edpushed states to create longitudinal cradle to grave

data systems

These systems supposed to collect and share info on


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What about federal datacollection?

Though feds claim no intention of doing so, 2 testing consortia,PARCC and Smarter Balanced, have clauses in their agreementssaying US Dept of Ed should be able to gain access to any and all

student data they obtain.


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Watch out!


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Happy holidays!

Documents

InBloom Presentation-12 18 13-Hudson Valley Community College