Elana Zeide
93 Geo. Wash. L. Rev. 535
Student privacy law does not meaningfully protect students’ privacy. As federal statutes such as the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act and the Protection of Pupil Rights Amendment mark their fiftieth anniversaries, they prove inadequate in an era of technology-mediated and data-driven education. More critically, student privacy laws are not only outdated but reflect a fundamental misalignment of priorities and lack a coherent normative foundation. So-called “student privacy” frameworks center parents and institutions rather than students themselves.
As a result, they neglect the distinct privacy needs and developmental requirements of students. This Article offers the first conceptual analysis of student privacy law, employing a novel paradigmatic analysis to identify two dominant yet problematic approaches to information governance in education: parent-centric and school-centric paradigms. These frameworks privilege parental rights and institutional priorities while often conflating students’ interests with those of children and subordinating their developmental needs to adult preferences.
This Article reconceptualizes student privacy as critical infrastructure for learning and development rather than merely a protective shield against external threats. To operationalize this reconceptualization, this Article proposes six core principles for a student-centric paradigm.
Grounded in interdisciplinary privacy scholarship and educational theory, the student-centric paradigm forms a foundation for student privacy and recognizes learners as primary stakeholders with developmental needs and intellectual agency. By reconceptualizing student privacy through a student-centric lens, this Article aims to shift the focus of privacy protections to better serve students’ interests, support their development, and prepare them for the privacy challenges they will face as adults in an increasingly “datafied” society. The time has come to place students at the center where they belong—to put the student back into student privacy.
