September 2015

The Future of Privacy Forum released new survey data showing that a majority of parents support using student data to improve education. While support for using data in the classroom is strong, parents remain concerned about the level of student data privacy and security in U.S. K-12 schools. The survey, which was conducted online by Harris Poll on behalf of Future of Privacy Forum from March 26 -- April 2, 2015, included 1,002 parents in the United States with children between the ages 0-17 (of which 672 have children in public school grades K-12). According to the survey, most parents (71 percent) say their child uses technology provided by school and over half (58 percent) say they have used school-related technology. A majority of parents (76 percent) understand what data are being collected and how they are used.

The results here demonstrate a strong baseline of knowledge and communication between schools and parents. In general, parents are very aware of, engaged with, and concerned about technology and student data use in schools. While they are eager for the individual learning benefits that educational data can provide, parents are also concerned about the security of their child’s personal information. Educators, education service providers, advocates, and policymakers should embrace the opportunity to work with parents as partners in addressing these issues.

Fast 4G internet connections are coming to airline passengers in Europe and beyond, delivering a blow to those who still relish being cocooned in an aircraft largely incommunicado. Inmarsat, the FTSE 100 satellite company, and Deutsche Telekom announced a partnership they say will allow millions of European airline passengers to use their smartphones and other devices in the air as they do on the ground. Inmarsat said that market pressure had pushed the industry to solve the “hideously complicated” technical and regulatory problems of providing faster and more robust connections aboard aircraft.

The partnership will pool Inmarsat’s European satellite and Deutsche Telekom’s network to provide coverage throughout the EU’s 28 member states. This way it would be able to provide access via satellite at high altitudes and, drawing on Deutsche Telekom’s network, at areas near airports where demand is typically peak. The satellite group says the speeds offered by its partnership with Deutsche Telekom will be far faster than those provided by Gogo, a company that uses a cellular network across the US to provide services to more than 2,400 commercial and 6,800 business aircraft.

Getting people to take their pills is hard, especially with mental illnesses like schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. But to use the language of techno-optimism: “There’s an app for that!”

In September, the Food and Drug Administration accepted an application to evaluate a new drug-sensor-app system that tracks when a pill’s been taken. The app comes connected to a Band Aid-like sensor, worn on the body, that knows when a tiny chip hidden inside a pill is swallowed -- so if patients aren’t keeping up with their medications, the program can alert their doctors. The drug here is Abilify, a popular antipsychotic from the pharmaceutical giant Otsuka, and the sensor and the app come from Proteus Digital Health, a California-based health technology company. The FDA has already approved the drug and the sensor system separately -- now, they’ll be evaluated together under a whole new category of “digital medicines.” If approved, the ingestible sensor can actually be used in the pill.