School-Loaned Computer Privacy (H 5561, S 702)

When virtual education became ubiquitous at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, issues of student privacy on school-loaned devices rightly crept to the forefront of public conversation. A report we issued in September 2020 showed that most schools advise students they do not have any expectation of privacy when using these computers, which is a concern only compounded by the fact that most students were completing their virtual learning from inside the private home. We urged enactment of a bill which would have provided specific technological privacy protections for students – including a ban on surreptitious accessing of the computer microphone and camera – so that they do not have to be concerned about inappropriate intrusions of privacy while working on these computers. This legislation passed the House, but died in the senate.