What It Is

FERPA (Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act), codified at 20 U.S.C. §1232g and 34 CFR Part 99, is a U.S. federal regulation establishing privacy protections for student education records. Its primary purpose is safeguarding personally identifiable information (PII) in records maintained by federally funded educational agencies and institutions. FERPA uses a rights-based approach with consent requirements, exceptions, and enforcement via funding leverage.

Key Components

• Core rights: inspect/review within 45 days, amend inaccurate records, consent to PII disclosures.
• Definitions: broad education records and PII (direct/indirect identifiers).
• Exceptions: school officials with legitimate interests, directory information, health/safety emergencies.
• Compliance: annual notices, disclosure logs, vendor controls. No formal certification; enforced by Department of Education.

Why Organizations Use It

Mandatory for federal funding recipients to avoid penalties like fund withholding. Enhances trust, mitigates breach risks, supports safe edtech/vendor use, enables data-driven operations while protecting reputation.

Implementation Overview

Phased program: governance, data inventory, policies/training, access controls, vendor DPAs, monitoring. Applies to K-12/postsecondary institutions; involves cross-functional teams, ongoing audits, no external certification.

What It Is

UK GDPR (UK General Data Protection Regulation) is the UK's post-Brexit adaptation of the EU GDPR, a binding regulation enforced by the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO). It establishes a risk-based, accountability-focused framework for protecting personal data of individuals in the UK, applying to controllers and processors established in the UK or targeting UK residents.

Key Components

• **Seven core principleslawfulness, purpose limitation, data minimisation, accuracy, storage limitation, integrity/confidentiality, and accountability.
• **Data subject rightsaccess, rectification, erasure, restriction, portability, objection, automated decisions.
• **Controller/processor obligationsrecords (RoPA), contracts, security, DPIAs.
• No formal certification; compliance via demonstrable governance and ICO enforcement (fines up to 4% global turnover).

Why Organizations Use It

• Mandatory legal compliance for UK data processing.
• Mitigates fines, reputational damage, civil claims.
• Builds trust, enables secure innovation, supports cross-border operations.

Implementation Overview

• Phased: gap analysis, RoPA, policies, training, DPIAs, audits.
• Applies to all sizes handling UK personal data; ongoing monitoring required.