Lawyers Warn Schools of Unwittingly Sharing Data and Facing Suits
A growing number of wiretapping cases are being brought against schools that register for free analytics services without realizing the third parties are then collecting data from visitors to the school website and using it, said Fisher Phillips lawyers in a blog post Friday.
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Risa Boerner and Susan Guerette said that savvy plaintiff lawyers can use “sophisticated tools” that scan websites “to determine whether schools or other businesses are improperly collecting and sharing information with third parties.” The lawyers then bring suits against the school using older wiretapping statutes.
Websites with links to social media “can have associated 'meta pixels' that use data obtained from visitors" to school sites "to re-target them with ads across different platforms," they added. “A visit to your website, for example, might lead to a potential student or parent receiving an ad for school supplies on a different website.”
Accordingly, Boerner and Guerette recommend schools review their websites to ensure they're in compliance.
Ignorance of such data sharing is a weak legal defense, the bloggers added. While having a cookie banner is a good step to mitigate risk, it's “important not only that schools include banners asking for permission to use information, but also that these banners are legally compliant.”