Student Online Personal Protection Act (SOPPA)

What is SOPPA and how does it affect New Simpson Hill?

The Student Online Personal Protection Act (SOPPA), is the data privacy law that regulates student data collection and use by schools, the Illinois State Board of Education, and technology vendors.  On August 29, 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. Information like student name, grade level, or homeroom information may be provided to educational vendors like WONDERS, CLASS DOJO, or Ready Math.  As a part of SOPPA, these vendors need to agree to certain terms under Data Privacy Agreements with each Illinois district that they work with.  These agreements outline the type of data stored, how it is protected, and what the vendor can or cannot do with the data.  Additionally, the Data Privacy Agreements explains what they will do in the event of a data breach.  To learn more about SOPPA, you can watch this quick video.

Data Privacy Agreements

New Simpson Hill leverages the Illinois Student Privacy Alliance (ISPA), which is a collaboration with Illinois School Districts and technology vendors to develop, view and maintain Student Data Privacy Agreements.  The vendors have a signed contract within the state of Illinois, and other school districts are given the opportunity to use these contracts as a formal agreement of terms of service and student privacy.  The following vendors contracts are listed below and can be accessed by clicking on the particular educational technology vendor.

(Links to agreements to be added soon, please check back)

Click here to see all of our agreements