NJ State Identification Number for all K-12 students

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

Begin forwarded message:

From: Joel Reidenberg <reidenberg () sprynet com>
Date: October 26, 2006 10:56:13 PM EDT
To: dave () farber net
Cc: ip () v2 listbox com
Subject: NJ State Identification Number for all K-12 students

The NJ Commissioner of Education made a presentation yesterday about  
the state's plans to create a state-issued student id number for  
every K-12 student in all NJ public schools before the end of this  
year.  The Commissioner claimed that every state was creating the  
same state-issued student identifier.    From the presentation, there  
does not appear to be any thought given to security, restrictions on  
the use of the identifier when the students are no longer enrolled in  
public schools (ie this becomes a de facto national id number),  
restrictions on data access (e.g. how does the state plan to keep its  
felons away from the data), and restrictions on illegitimate uses of  
the data.  Unless I am missing something, the purported  
justification, the federal No Child Left Behind Act reporting  
requirements, does not make any sense.

To give you an idea of the scope of data tracking, the NJ program  
will require each school district throughout the state to report the  
following personal information to set up the database:

"• Local Student Identification Number
• First Name
• Middle Name
• Last Name
• Generation Suffix (if applicable)
• Date of Birth
• Gender
• City, Country of Birth
• County Code of Residence
• District Code of Residence
• Attending District Code
• Attending School Code
• Program Entry Date (referring to “Program” as it applies to the NJ  
School Register
• Attending School Entry Date
• School Code of Residence
http://www.nj.gov/njded/njsmart/082906memo.pdf

Once the database is established, the state plans to require  
reporting of individual student performance.

If all states are indeed creating these tracking databases, the  
intrusiveness and risks to student privacy are staggering.    Looks  
ripe for litigation!

Regards,

Joel

**********************************************
Joel R. Reidenberg
Professor of Law and Founding Director
Fordham Center on Law and Information Policy
Fordham University School of Law
140 West 62nd Street
New York, NY 10023
Tel: 212-636-6843
Fax: 212-636-6899
Email: reidenberg () sprynet com
Web: http://reidenberg.home.sprynet.com

**********************************************






-------------------------------------
You are subscribed as lists-ip () insecure org
To manage your subscription, go to
 http://v2.listbox.com/member/?listname=ip

Archives at: http://www.interesting-people.org/archives/interesting-people/