Monitoring software and FERPA

Question

I’m in high school. In my school, students are given Chromebooks with the software called GoGuardian automatically installed, as well as Securly. For some background, GoGuardian saves information and screenshots of what a student is seeing on the Chromebook. Every student is required to have this software, and it is monitored often. I am taking an online course that falls under FERPA laws. This course is run by a university and the university insists that my parents are not able to see any information about the course. I don’t believe I have signed any documents giving my rights away to allow monitoring, but my parents did sign a document allowing monitoring on the Chromebook. I have read the law and it did seem to say that it is illegal, but as a high school student with no law experience, I would assume my judgement may not be accurate. Is the school monitoring my course and all of the information for my course legal? If this is legal, do I have rights regarding this information that is taken from me? I am willing to give any context that would be required.

Answer 1

You're under 18, so you're viewed as a minor under the law, and as such, you can't agree to and sign legally binding contracts. Your parents must sign for you, and you really have no choice in parental guardian-type duties, such as education. It's perfectly legal for them to sign to allow monitoring on the laptop, as a condition of you using it as school property for your education.

Is the school monitoring my course and all of the information for my course legal?

Yes. It the school's Chromebook, and you parents agreed to your use of it for educational purposes. If the HS is presenting the university course, they have presumably worked out the FERPA issues, as you are a minor and your parents do have the authority to see your work.

If this is legal, do I have rights regarding this information that is taken from me?

Not really. Once you're 18, you can fight the power. Until then, you're a minor.

Answer 2

It is not clear whether you are an eligible student under FERPA regulations. Since you are apparently under 18, the question is whether you are "attending an institution of postsecondary education" – the regulations do not say what it means to "attend" an institution. Regardless of whether you are an eligible student, FERPA regulations only limit disclosure of student records (they are creating records via this monitoring), and there is no limit on the records that they can create. So your permission is not required to create records (regardless of whether you are an eligible student). FERPA limits disclosure, but also guarantees the right of access by the student or the parent – whether the parent has access rights depends on whether the student is legally an "eligible student".

The university might adopt a legal stance to the effect that any person enrolled in a university-sponsored class is "attending" the university, which would mean that they can deny parents access to the records of their children (whereas your high school cannot deny your parents access to those records, until you turn 18). That does not mean that the university's position is legally correct: if your parents want access to your records, they could sue the university and we might get a court ruling about what "attending" means, in the context of FERPA.

So the only practical limit on access to the Chromebook information is that your parents might gain access, if you are found not to be an eligible student. Apparently, the university takes the position that you are, so they would have to sue to get access to that information. There is no limit on the monitoring that can be done.