Data Manager Resource Hub

USPA Home Page

The USPA (Utah Student Privacy Alliance) is a collaborative initiative between the Student Data Privacy team of the Utah State Board of Education (USBE) and the Data Managers of Local Education Agencies (LEAs) who share a common concern for student privacy. 
Our primary objective is to establish standards of practice and expectations regarding student privacy, fostering a shared understanding among all involved parties. To achieve this goal, the USPA has developed a comprehensive Data Privacy Agreement (DPA) that all LEAs are encouraged to adopt and implement when utilizing online applications. By adopting this standardized contract, both vendors and schools can establish a common set of expectations and avoid the need for renegotiating terms with every new implementation or relationship. Through this platform, LEAs can leverage existing vendor relationships with other LEAs, facilitating the smooth development of new partnerships and collaborations.

Our aim is to create a secure and trusted environment for student data and privacy, fostering cooperation and streamlined processes among educational stakeholders. By working together through the USPA, we can ensure that student privacy remains a top priority while maximizing the benefits of technology in education.

USPA Monthly Meeting - Next Meeting: March 5, 2025
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February 2025

Intended Audience: LEA Data Managers
Date: First Wednesday of the month
Time: 3:00 pm - 4:00 pm MT
Registration Link: Link to Zoom Registration Links to an external site.

The Utah Student Privacy Alliance (USPA) is a collaborative network of LEA Data Managers committed to enhancing student data privacy. Guided by the USBE Student Data Privacy team, our alliance is at the forefront of developing and implementing Data Privacy Agreements (DPAs) with third-party vendors, ensuring that student information is handled with the utmost care and in compliance with Utah law 53e-9-3 Links to an external site.. The USPA is dedicated to assisting LEAs in fulfilling their obligations for Annual Privacy Notices and Metadata Dictionary (MDD) compliance. We provide essential guidance, support, and resources to navigate the intricacies of student data privacy.

Why Your Presence Matters:

  • Gain insights into the latest student data privacy practices.
  • Collaborate with peers and experts in the field.
  • Contribute to the collective effort of protecting student data.
  • Stay informed about compliance requirements and best practices.

Your expertise and input are vital to our collective success. Join us to make a difference in student data privacy. While attendance is optional, your participation is highly valued and can make a significant impact.

Laws & Policies
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Federal Law

Utah State Law

Board Rule

 

What is the Process to Obtain a Data Privacy Agreement with a Third Party?
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"Is this product requesting student PII?" 

 This is the question that all staff in your LEA should be asking themselves before beginning the use of a new product in your agency. Unauthorized data sharing with 3rd party products puts your LEA at risk. Once you know whether the product is requesting student PII, begin the process outlined below.

    1. STEP 1: Product Request
    2. STEP 2: Established Agreements or Badges in Utah
    3. STEP 3: Will the vendor sign a new agreement in Utah?
    4. STEP 4: Sending Agreements to Vendors
    5. STEP 5: Agreement Completion & Updating Your Registry

 

Types of DPAs - Data Privacy Agreements
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National Data Privacy Agreements

The National Data Privacy Agreement (NDPA) has been community developed and designed to streamline application contracting and set common expectations between schools/districts and marketplace providers. After a great amount of Community growth and feedback, schools, districts, divisions and states indicated they needed their own state-specific version of the DPA for larger adoption. Two years later, there was enough commonality between state specific DPAs that a National DPA Project Team explored the viability of developing a draft that could be used by any school/district/division across the US. The NDPA has been developed with extensive review and comments from all stakeholders and is designed to address common student data privacy concerns and streamline the contracting processes for users with limited legal or fiscal resources for “one off” contracts with each of the over 13,000 US school districts. The NDPAv2 is slated to be released in May of 2024. 

National Research Data Privacy Agreement

The NRDPA describes the duties and responsibilities to protect existing Student Data including compliance with all applicable federal, state, and local privacy laws, rules, and regulations. Under the studies exception, the Researcher shall be conducting research for, or on behalf of educational agencies or institutions to:

Other Types of Agreements

 

Resources
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Data Privacy Infrastructure

MDD

AGREEMENTS

VENDORS

RECORD MANAGEMENT

GUIDANCE

 

SDPC - The Student Data Privacy Consortium
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The Student Data Privacy Consortium (SDPC) is an unique collaborative of schools, districts, regional, territories and state agencies, policy makers, trade organizations and marketplace providers addressing real-world, adaptable, and implementable solutions to growing data privacy concerns. Utah participates in this consortium as the USPA, or Utah Student Privacy Alliance. Think of SDPC as your digital filing cabinet for all Data Privacy Agreements. 

important icon 4.png - Click Here to Join SDPC Links to an external site.

Quick Links

FAQ

 

Annual Privacy Compliance Review
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By November 15th each year, it's imperative to submit specific documents to the Utah State Board of Education (USBE), as mandated for each Local Education Agency (LEA). This space will equip you with knowledge about the essential documents and their requisite components to comply with state and federal laws.

 

Newsletters & Networking
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USBE Student Data Privacy Monthly Newsletter

The Privacy and Records listservs are live!

You have questions, and you have answers! The privacy listserv is now open! We’ll use the listserv to deliver timely information–like current events, news about data breaches, etc. Furthermore, the listserv will be a place to seek the guidance and knowledge of your peers in the data privacy and data security space; a chance to casually ask questions, seek feedback, discuss best practices, and leverage the Utah K12 brain trust (and trust us, it’s a good one). 

You can register for the privacy listserv on UEN's website Links to an external site..

Additionally, our records listserv is available for all appointed records officers. Similar to the privacy listserv, this will be a forum for records officers to communicate with each other, us, and members of the State Archives. Unlike the privacy listserv, appointed records officers will be preemptively added to the listserv so that relevant and timely information can reach all of you as consistently as possible. 

You can register for the records listserv on UEN’s website.  Links to an external site.

What is a listserv?

You’re probably in one without even knowing it. Facilitated by UEN, a listserv is like an internet forum where someone can ask questions, send info, or request guidance in a thread format, but they’re submitted and delivered through email. Once registered, one need only send an email to k12privacy@lists.uen.org, and it’ll be sent to your peers and us for consideration, edification, and response. 

Other popular listservs include TCC Links to an external site., meant for technology coordinators and security folks, and CForum Links to an external site., meant for technology trainers and EdTech users. You can peruse the full list on the listserv repository. Links to an external site.

Schedule a Meeting
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Please don't hesitate to contact us at privacy@schools.utah.gov for any assistance.

For specific queries about your role as a data manager, you can contact:

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John Lyman

Student Data Privacy Specialist

Schedule a meeting via Microsoft Booking Links to an external site.

john.lyman@schools.utah.gov

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Nicole Sanchez

Student Data Privacy Specialist

Schedule a meeting via Microsoft Booking Links to an external site.

nicole.sanchez@schools.utah.gov
Public Domain This course content is offered under a Public Domain Links to an external site. license. Content in this course can be considered under this license unless otherwise noted.