By Risa Askerooth
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The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is attempting to enact a 2013 legislative bill, which will help prevent the abuse of student information online by school administrators.
“I’m a student as well, I care about my privacy, I don’t want my school to have access to my facebook . . . something that’s really important to all of us,” said ACLU summer intern and law student Sana Chaudhry.
The bill will construct walls between students and their school officials to secure online privacy. “Students have a right to privacy – the right to privacy protects your personal dignity,” stated Chaudhry, continuing, “It also keeps government officials and everybody else in check.”
The cause for the enactment of this bill was the cases of students’ personal information abuse. “There have been reports of school officials abusing their authority . . . all across the United States,” said Chaudhry.
The violation of privacy affects all aspects of students’ lives and can have detrimental consequences. “The loss of privacy doesn’t just affect the students but it affects their family, their friends,” Chaudhry said.
To prevent these violations from occurring, ACLU has taken a stand to protect privacy, already galvanized by the Hawaii and United States Constitution. “We need to take action to protect your civil rights,” expressed Chaudhry.
A tribute to this issue’s broadness, Deleware has recently passed this bill. “This issue is so important that federal legislations have already been introduced to protect other students’ privacy in several other states,” Chaudhry stated.
Contrary to the position that they have been put in, students are able to take a stand to prevent further abuse of their information. “Students often feel powerless in these situations because they’re not aware of their privacy rights but students have privacy rights just the same as everyone,” Chaudhry said.
ACLU will continue to emphasize the importance of online security and fight the influences of authorities that suppress the freedom of online speech.
