Remember that ominous threat from your childhood, 'This will go down on your permanent record?' The government is collecting copious amounts of data about every child -- nearly everything else that a school or state agency knows about them is being tracked, profiled and potentially shared. In the past, this data collection would have been illegal, but the Department of Education weakened the federal privacy law in 2012 to allow the collection of personally identifiable data. The Gates Foundation has given out millions to encourage data collection.How could this happen without Congressional hearings and oversight? It it is not too late. Congress should call hearings to inquire about systematic invasions of privacy, about covert loosening of FERPA regulations, and to find out why the law was weakened without seeking Congressional approval.
At www.washingtonpost.com
