Table Of Contents
Effective: October 2020
This Policy addresses Public Prep Charter School Academies’ (“Public Prep”) responsibility to adopt appropriate administrative, technical, and physical safeguards and controls to protect and maintain the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of its data, data systems, and information technology resources.
Public Prep is committed to maintaining the privacy and security of student data and teacher and principal data and will follow all applicable laws and regulations for the handling and storage of this data in by Public Prep and when disclosing or releasing it to others, including, but not limited to, third-party contractors. Public Prep adopts this policy to implement the requirements of Education Law Section 2-d and its implementing regulations, as well as to align the School's data privacy and security practices with the National Institute for Standards and Technology Framework for Improving Critical Infrastructure Cybersecurity (Version 1.1).
Definitions
As provided in Education Law Section 2-d and/or its implementing regulations, the following terms, as used in this policy, will mean:
As part of its commitment to maintaining the privacy and security of student data and teacher and principal data, Public Prep will take steps to minimize its collection, processing, and transmission of PII.
Public Prep will monitor its data systems, develop incident response plans, limit access to PII to Public Prep employees, interns, volunteers, independent contractors, and third-party contractors who need such access to fulfill their professional responsibilities or contractual obligations, and destroy PII when it is no longer needed.
Additionally, Public Prep will:
Except as required by law or in the case of educational enrollment data, Public Prep will not report to NYSED the following student data elements:
Certain federal laws and regulations provide additional rights regarding confidentiality of and access to student records, as well as permitted disclosures without consent.
The Commissioner of Education has appointed a Chief Privacy Officer who will report to the Commissioner on matters affecting privacy and the security of student data and teacher and principal data. Among other functions, the Chief Privacy Officer is authorized to provide assistance to educational agencies within the state on minimum standards and best practices associated with privacy and the security of student data and teacher and principal data.
Public Prep will comply with its obligation to report breaches or unauthorized releases of student data or teacher or principal data to the Chief Privacy Officer in accordance with Education Law Section 2-d, its implementing regulations, and this policy.
The Chief Privacy Officer has the power, among others, to:
Public Prep has designated an employee to serve as the Public Prep’s Data Protection Officer. The Data Protection Officer for Public Prep will be appointed (or re-appointed, as the case may be) at Public Prep’s Annual Meeting at such other time annually as Public Prep may designate from time to time.
The Data Protection Officer is responsible for the implementation and oversight of this policy and any related procedures including those required by Education Law Section 2-d and its implementing regulations to develop and maintain a comprehensive Data Privacy and Security Program. The Data Protection Officer will serve as the main point of contact for Public Prep’s Data Privacy and Security Program.
Public Prep will ensure that the Data Protection Officer has the appropriate knowledge, training, and experience to administer these functions. The Data Protection Officer may perform these functions in addition to other job responsibilities.
Public Prep will use the National Institute for Standards and Technology Framework for Improving Critical Infrastructure Cybersecurity (Version 1.1) (Framework) as the standard for its data privacy and security program. The Framework is a risk-based approach to managing cybersecurity risk and is composed of three parts: the Framework Core, the Framework Implementation Tiers, and the Framework Profiles. The Framework provides a common taxonomy and mechanism for organizations to:
Public Prep will protect the confidentiality and privacy of student and teacher/principal PII while stored or transferred by:
The School affords all protections under FERPA and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and their implementing regulations to parents or eligible students, where applicable.
Public Prep Responsibilities:
Public Prep will ensure that whenever it enters into a contract or other written agreement with a third-party contractor and the third-party contractor will receive student data or teacher or principal data from Public Prep, the contract or written agreement will include provisions requiring that confidentiality of shared student data or teacher or principal data be maintained in accordance with federal and state laws and regulations, and Public Prep policy.
In addition, Public Prep will ensure that the contract or written agreement includes the third-party contractor's data privacy and security plan that has been accepted by Public Prep.
The third-party contractor's data privacy and security plan must, at a minimum:
Public Prep will also ensure that the contract or written agreement with the third-party contractor includes a signed copy of the Parents' Bill of Rights for Data Privacy and Security.
Third-Party Contractor Responsibilities:
Each third-party contractor, that enters into a contract or other written agreement with Public Prep under which the third-party contractor will receive student data or teacher or principal data from Public Prep, is required to:
Where a third-party contractor engages a subcontractor to perform its contractual obligations, the data protection obligations imposed on the third-party contractor by state and federal laws and contract with Public Prep apply to the subcontractor.
If the third-party contractor has a breach or unauthorized release of PII, it will promptly notify Public Prep in the most expedient way possible without unreasonable delay but no more than seven (7) calendar days after the breach’s discovery.
Click-Wrap Agreements:
Periodically, Public Prep staff may wish to use software, applications, or other technologies in which the user must "click" a button or box to agree to certain online terms of service prior to using the software, application, or other technology. These are known as "click-wrap agreements" and are considered legally binding "contracts or other written agreements" under Education Law Section 2-d and its implementing regulations.
Public Prep staff are prohibited from using software, applications, or other technologies pursuant to a click-wrap agreement in which the third-party contractor receives student data or teacher or principal data from the School unless they have received prior approval from the School's Data Protection Officer or designee.
Public Prep will develop and implement procedures requiring prior review and approval for staff use of any software, applications, or other technologies pursuant to click-wrap agreements.
Public Prep will publish its Parents' Bill of Rights for Data Privacy and Security (Bill of Rights) on its website. Additionally, Public Prep will include the Bill of Rights with every contract or other written agreement it enters into with a third-party contractor under which the third-party contractor will receive student data or teacher or principal data from Public Prep.
Public Prep’s Bill of Rights will state in clear and plain English terms that:
The Bill of Rights will also include supplemental information for each contract Public Prep enters into with a third-party contractor where the third-party contractor receives student data or teacher or principal data from Public Prep. The supplemental information must be developed by the School and include the following information:
Public Prep will publish on its website the supplement to the Bill of Rights (i.e., the supplemental information described above) for any contract or other written agreement it has entered into with a third-party contractor that will receive PII from Public Prep. The Bill of Rights and supplemental information may be redacted to the extent necessary to safeguard the privacy and/or security of the Public Prep s data and/or technology infrastructure.
Consistent with the obligations of the School under FERPA, parents and eligible students have the right to inspect and review a student's education record by making a request directly to the School in a manner prescribed by the School.
Public Prep will ensure that only authorized individuals are able to inspect and review student data. To that end, Public Prep will take steps to verify the identity of parents, guardians, or eligible students who submit requests to inspect and review an education record and verify the individual's authority to do so.
Requests by a parent, guardian, or eligible student for access to a student's education records must be directed to the School and not to a third-party contractor. Public Prep may require that requests to inspect and review education records be made in writing.
Public Prep will notify parents, guardians, and eligible students annually of their right to request to inspect and review the student’s education record including any student data stored or maintained by the School through its annual FERPA notice. A notice separate from Public Prep 's annual FERPA notice is not required.
Public Prep will comply with a request for access to records within a reasonable period, but not more than 45 calendar days after receipt of a request barring extenuating circumstances.
If the parent, guardian, or eligible student consents, Public Prep may provide the records electronically. Public Prep must transmit the PII in a way that complies with laws and regulations. Safeguards associated with industry standards and best practices, including but not limited to encryption and password protection, must be in place when education records requested by a parent, guardian, or eligible student are electronically transmitted.
Public Prep will inform parents/guardians, through its Parents' Bill of Rights for Data Privacy and Security, that they have the right to submit complaints about possible breaches of student data to the Chief Privacy Officer at NYSED. In addition, Public Prep has established the following procedures for parents, guardians, eligible students, teachers, principals, and other Public Prep staff to file complaints with Public Prep about breaches or unauthorized releases of student data and/or teacher or principal data:
These procedures will be disseminated to parents, guardians, eligible students, teachers, principals, and other School staff.
Public Prep will maintain a record of all complaints of breaches or unauthorized releases of student data and their disposition in accordance with applicable data retention policies.
Public Prep’s Data Protection Officer will report every discovery or report of a breach or unauthorized release of student data or teacher or principal data within the School to the Chief Privacy Officer without unreasonable delay, but no more than ten calendar days after the discovery.
Each third-party contractor that receives student data or teacher or principal data pursuant to a contract or other written agreement entered into with Public Prep will be required to promptly notify Public Prep of any breach of security resulting in an unauthorized release of the data by the third-party contractor or its assignees in violation of applicable laws and regulations, the Parents' Bill of Rights for Student Data Privacy and Security, Public Prep policy, and/or binding contractual obligations relating to data privacy and security, in the most expedient way possible and without unreasonable delay, but no more than seven calendar days after the discovery of the breach.
In the event of notification from a third-party contractor, Public Prep will in turn notify the Chief Privacy Officer of the breach or unauthorized release of student data or teacher or principal data no more than ten calendar days after it receives the third-party contractor's notification using a form or format prescribed by NYSED.
The Chief Privacy Officer is required to investigate reports of breaches or unauthorized releases of student data or teacher or principal data by third-party contractors. As part of an investigation, the Chief Privacy Officer may require that the parties submit documentation, provide testimony, and may visit, examine, and/or inspect the third-party contractor's facilities and records.
Upon the belief that a breach or unauthorized release constitutes criminal conduct, the Chief Privacy Officer is required to report the breach and unauthorized release to law enforcement in the most expedient way possible and without unreasonable delay.
Third-party contractors are required to cooperate with the School and law enforcement to protect the integrity of investigations into the breach or unauthorized release of PII.
Upon conclusion of an investigation, if the Chief Privacy Officer determines that a third-party contractor has through its actions or omissions caused student data or teacher or principal data to be breached or released to any person or entity not authorized by law to receive this data in violation of applicable laws and regulations, Public Prep policy, and/or any binding contractual obligations, the Chief Privacy Officer is required to notify the third-party contractor of the finding and give the third-party contractor no more than 30 days to submit a written response.
If after reviewing the third-party contractor's written response, the Chief Privacy Officer determines the incident to be a violation of Education Law Section 2-d, the Chief Privacy Officer will be authorized to:
If the Chief Privacy Officer determines that the breach or unauthorized release of student data or teacher or principal data on the part of the third-party contractor or assignee was inadvertent and done without intent, knowledge, recklessness, or gross negligence, the Chief Privacy Officer may make a recommendation to the Commissioner that no penalty be issued to the third-party contractor.
The Commissioner would then make a final determination as to whether the breach or unauthorized release was inadvertent and done without intent, knowledge, recklessness or gross negligence and whether or not a penalty should be issued.
Public Prep will notify affected parents, eligible students, teachers, and/or principals in the most expedient way possible and without unreasonable delay, but no more than 60 calendar days after the discovery of a breach or unauthorized release of PII by Public Prep or the receipt of a notification of a breach or unauthorized release of PII from a third-party contractor unless that notification would interfere with an ongoing investigation by law enforcement or cause further disclosure of PII by disclosing an unfixed security vulnerability. Where notification is delayed under these circumstances, Public Prep will notify parents, eligible students, teachers, and/or principals within seven calendar days after the security vulnerability has been remedied or the risk of interference with the law enforcement investigation ends.
Notifications will be clear, concise, use language that is plain and easy to understand, and to the extent available, include:
Notification will be directly provided to the affected parent, guardian, eligible student, teacher, or principal by first-class mail to their last known address, by email, or by telephone.
Where a breach or unauthorized release is attributed to a third-party contractor, the third-party contractor is required to pay for or promptly reimburse the School for the full cost of this notification.
The Data Protection Officer must annually report to the Board of Education on data privacy and security activities and progress, any changes to data privacy and security measures, the number and disposition of reported breaches, if any, and a summary of any complaints submitted pursuant to Education Law 2-d.
All officers and staff must comply with the School’s Acceptable Use Policy when using the Public Prep’s resources. Access privileges will be granted in accordance with the user’s job responsibilities. Access privileges will be limited to the extent necessary to accomplish assigned tasks in accordance with Public Prep’s mission and business functions. Access privileges will be discontinued for those who are no longer with Public Prep.
Public Prep will annually provide data privacy and security awareness training to its officers and staff with access to PII. This training will include, but not be limited to, training on the applicable laws and regulations that protect PII and how staff can comply with these laws and regulations. Public Prep may deliver this training using online training tools. Additionally, this training may be included as part of the training that Public Prep already offers to its workforce. All officers and staff who have access to PII must complete this training annually.
Public Prep will publish this policy on its website and provide notice of the policy to all its officers and staff.
Adopted October 2020