For many organizations, privacy and security have traditionally been treated as related but separate disciplines. Privacy is often viewed as a legal or compliance responsibility, while security sits with technical or IT teams. Increasingly, however, regulators are signaling that this separation does not reflect the inter-connected nature of these disciplines, and the manner in which student data risks actually arise.

In practice, security failures involving student information must be treated as potential privacy violations, particularly where organizations have made commitments about how that data will be protected. For EdTech providers, this reflects a meaningful shift, from having the right policies in place to having demonstrably effective protections for personal data that they process.

From Commitments to Operational Reality

EdTech vendors regularly assure schools, districts, and parents that student data is safeguarded through reasonable administrative, technical, and physical controls. These assurances appear across privacy notices, contracts, marketing materials, and internal documentation.

What is changing is how closely regulators are looking at whether those assurances are backed up by operational practices. The focus is no longer just on what an organization says it does, but on how data is actually handled and safeguarded across systems, teams, and vendors. Where meaningful gaps exist, regulators are likely to view them as gaps against applicable privacy laws rather than purely technical shortcomings.

This shift places new emphasis on execution, oversight, and accountability.

Where Security Gaps Become Privacy Risk

In many cases, the issues that draw regulatory attention are not especially novel or complex. Instead, they reflect governance and operational gaps that tend to emerge as platforms grow and mature.

Examples frequently include:

• Providing broad internal access to sensitive student information without regular review
• Failure to address known vulnerabilities
• Inconsistent off-boarding processes, including revocation of access rights, for employees with access to student personal information
• Inconsistent off-boarding processes for vendors with access to student personal information
• Limited visibility and management of personal information in cloud environments and third-party integrations
• Retaining student data longer than necessary for educational or operational purposes

While these challenges are often addressed within security or IT functions, they increasingly carry privacy implications, particularly with potentially vulnerable groups such as students and their personal information. Regulators are paying close attention to whether safeguards are reasonable, consistently applied, and actively maintained.

Why This Matters for EdTech Privacy Programs

You don’t need to overhaul eStudent data is unique in both scope and longevity. It is collected early in life, often retained for extended periods, and commonly shared across multiple platforms and service providers. When controls break down, the impact can extend well beyond a single system or incident.

From a privacy perspective, this means effective programs need to account for more than notices and consent. Increasingly, they must also address:

• Clear data minimization and retention practices
• Defined access governance and periodic review
• Documented vulnerability management processes
• Incident detection, escalation, and response readiness
• Alignment between public representations and internal practices

Programs that overlook these operational elements may struggle to meet evolving expectations and find themselves subject to regulatory scrutiny.

Questions EdTech Organizations May Want to Ask

Rather than approaching privacy solely as a compliance exercise, EdTech organizations may benefit from stepping back and asking a few practical questions:

• What student data do we retain today, and is each category still necessary?
• Who has access to sensitive student information, and how often is that access reviewed?
• How quickly can we detect, escalate, and address unauthorized access, exposure, or misuse of student data, from collection through deletion?
• Do our privacy and security statements accurately reflect how our systems operate today?

These questions help shift the focus from documentation alone to overall program maturity.

Looking Ahead

As regulatory scrutiny of student data practices continues to evolve, EdTech organizations are increasingly evaluated on how effectively privacy and security controls operate in practice, not just how they are described. Many organizations find value in periodically reviewing data retention, access governance, and incident readiness to identify gaps early and support more resilient, scalable privacy programs over time.

If you’d like to discuss privacy — or have questions about this post or your organization’s privacy practices — contact tiffany.soomdat@tueoris.com

— Tiffany A. Soomdat, MSL, CIPP/US • Senior Consultant @ Tueoris LLC