Student Privacy and FERPA

  • by Larisa O King
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The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) may sound familiar to many employees and students at UC Davis. For students, FERPA is one of several privacy laws that protect their information and provides important data privacy rights. For employees, FERPA is one of many requirements that helps UC Davis ensure it takes measures to protect student information. Even if you are not familiar with FERPA, we have many resources to keep you informed. To begin with, here are some FERPA basics:

What is FERPA? FERPA is a federal law protecting the privacy of student’s personally identifiable information (PII) in education records. Education records include records that are directly related to a student and maintained by the university. All enrolled students, including international students and undocumented students, are afforded privacy protection under FERPA.

What information is prohibited from disclosure?  Under FERPA, UC Davis may share only student PII with the student’s written consent or with authorized third parties under certain legally permissible circumstances. Student PII includes, but is not limited to, the student’s address, student identification number, immigration status, and any other information that alone or combined could reasonably identify the student. For more information, please refer to UC Policy (PACAOS-130) and UC Davis Policy.

Student directory information (e.g., email address, telephone number, major field of study) is considered information that would not generally be considered harmful or an invasion of privacy if disclosed. FERPA does not require prior consent for disclosure of directory information to third parties. Students who wish to limit access to their directory information are encouraged to review their options and take action as described by the Office of the University Registrar.

Can students exercise any rights to their PII? Students have the right to access and review their own records. Students also have the right to request corrections and limit the disclosure of their education records in certain ways. Students have the right to request administrative review by the UC Davis Office of Student Support and Judicial Affairs and to file a complaint with the U.S. Department of Education for alleged violations of their FERPA rights. We encourage students to understand their rights further by reviewing the UC Davis Official FERPA Notification: Official Privacy Notifications.

What can students do to protect their privacy generally? Generally, there are many ways all individuals can be mindful about their privacy.  As a starting point: 1. Remain cautious when sharing personal information through websites, social media, and other technologies. 2. Read privacy policies of digital platforms to better understand how information about you is being collected and used. 3. Exercise deliberate choices online, such as opting out of non-essential cookies from tracking you or selling your data (California requires most for-profit businesses to offer a “do not sell my personal information” option on websites).

Students should be especially alert of potential scam messages targeting students looking for job opportunities or experiences. International students who may be unfamiliar with common phishing schemes should especially exercise caution. To learn more about common scams and how to protect yourself, please visit Security Awareness Guides (IET), Career Center: Job Scams, and SISS Protecting Yourself from Scams. For more information on phishing emails, visit UC Davis IET Authentic Message Registry and How can I tell if an email is phishing?

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