Survey: 87 Percent of Parents Are Concerned About Student Data Security

The Future of Privacy Forum has released new survey data showing that a large majority of parents are concerned about the level of student data privacy and security in America’s K-12 schools.

According to the survey, 87 percent of parents expressed concern that their child’s electronic education records could be hacked or stolen. For this reason, 85% of parents said that their willingness to support the use of student data and technology in education must be coupled with efforts to ensure security.

When asked if they are “comfortable with [a] properly protected electronic education record being created for my child,” 71 percent replied that they were.

The survey, which was conducted online this spring by Harris Interactive on behalf of the Future of Privacy Forum, included 1,002 parents in the United States with children 17 and under.

The entire survey will be released Monday, September 21, 2015, at the National Student Privacy Symposium at The Mayflower Renaissance Hotel in Washington, D.C. The symposium is designed to foster debate among research experts, education leaders, privacy and security professionals, advocacy groups, parents and government leaders about how to best serve our youth. The deadline to register for the symposium is September 16.

About the Author

Christopher Piehler is the former editor-in-chief of THE Journal.

Featured

  • Analyst or Scientist uses a computer and dashboard for analysis of information on complex data sets on computer.

    Anthropic Study Tracks AI Adoption Trends Across Countries, Industries

    Adoption of AI tools is growing quickly but remains uneven across countries and industries, with higher-income economies using them far more per person and companies favoring automated deployments over collaborative ones, according to a recent study from Anthropic.

  • laptop displaying a glowing digital brain and data charts sits on a metal shelf in a well-lit server room with organized network cables and active servers

    Cisco Unveils AI-First Approach to IT Operations

    At its recent Cisco Live 2025 event, Cisco introduced AgenticOps, a transformative approach to IT operations that integrates advanced AI capabilities to enhance efficiency and collaboration across network, security, and application domains.

  • tutor and student working together at a laptop

    You've Paid for Tutoring. Here's How to Make Sure It Works.

    As districts and states nationwide invest in tutoring, it remains one of the best tools in our educational toolkit, yielding positive impacts on student learning at scale. But to maximize return on investment, both financially and academically, we must focus on improving implementation.

  • Schoolchildren Work on Personal Computers

    Code.org Reinvents Hour of Code as Hour of AI

    Education nonprofit Code.org has partnered with CSforALL to launch the Hour of AI, a global initiative providing learning activities for AI education.