• SOPPA

    Student Online Personal Protection Act

    We are committed to protecting the information security of Danville School District 118 students in accordance with the latest version of the Student Online Personal Protection Act.

    What is SOPPA?

    The Student Online Personal Protection Act, or SOPPA, is the data privacy law that regulates student data collection and use by schools, the Illinois State Board of Education, and education technology (EdTech) vendors.

    On August 23, 2019, Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker signed into law a new version of SOPPA that gives parents greater control over student data. Among the changes is a new requirement to enact breach notifications that are available to the public.

    What does it mean for District 118 families?

    What happens to the student data that we send to a third party vendor? Information like student name, course number, homeroom information, or student grade may be provided by District 118 to a third party educational vendor. What protections do those companies have in place to make sure that our student's data is not sold or freely given to others? This is exactly what SOPPA looks to address. As part of SOPPA, these companies must enter into Data Privacy Agreements (DPA) with each district they work with. These agreements outline what data is stored, how it is protected, what the company can and cannot do with that data, and what they will do in the event of a data breach. To learn more about SOPPA, watch this short video.

    What does it mean for District 118 staff?

    If you are a teacher you will need to inform parents of the EdTech products you have chosen for your classroom and ask for parental consent when appropriate. As you find new tools, apps, websites, and educational resources, you will need to submit a request to have them vetted for SOPPA compliance prior to using.  

    If you are a building principal, you will need to ensure the EdTech vendors chosen by staff are part of our approved vendors and have signed contracts with us.
     
    Data Privacy Agreements (DPA's)

    District 118 leverages the Student Data Privacy Consortium (SDPC), which 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. If you would like to read more about the SDPC, click here. Through the SDPC we enter into contracts with 3rd party vendors who handle our student's data. If you would like to view the DPAs that District 118 currently holds, please click here. (Please note, other vendors are being added daily, so if you don't see one here that you believe should be on the list, check back soon.) 

    Ensuring our students’ safety is critically important to District 118 and establishing protocols compliant with this legislation will enable us to do so consistently.