Senator Golden Signs on as Co-Sponsor to Legislation Protecting Your Children’s Right to Privacy

Joins his colleagues and Community Education Council 20 in calling for a ban on releasing student information without parental consent.

Brooklyn, NY – New York State Senator Martin J. Golden (R-C-I) yesterday signed on as a cosponsor to S4284, which prohibits the release of personal identifiable information of students without parental consent for those students under 18, or without direct consent for those students over 18.

Recently, New York State has stated they will be releasing personal and confidential information with certain corporations, including the Gates Foundation and News Corporation. The information to be released includes, names, ages, addresses, race, ethnicity, and disabilities, of current students, among other academic information. This information sharing currently has no mechanism to opt out, revealing a severer breach in the right to privacy for students and families.

“Today I join with my colleagues and stand up for families and students throughout New York,” stated Senator Golden. “Selling a student's personal information to third parties without parental notification, and parental and student acceptance, is unacceptable. Today I am asking the legislature to pass S4284, which would require parental consent to release information to corporations and outside groups. This legislation is reasonable, responsible, and gives parents and students their right to privacy.”

Community Education Council 20 passed a resolution at their April 10th meeting calling for, among other safeguards, parental notification and opt out. Laurie Windsor, President of CEC 20, stated, “Community Education Council District 20 is very concerned about the collection of our students' confidential data and the storage of such data under very unreliable methods. An additional troubling issue is making such information available to commercial vendors. Besides this, parental consent or notification is not required which is extremely disturbing!”