EdLawConnect Blog

Several school districts across the country have recently been forced to confront negative uses of “deepfakes,”[1] a new and concerning type of generative AI technology.  Deepfakes are hyper-realistic video or audio clips of individuals that can depict individuals as saying or doing things that they never actually said or did.  Although the process is complex, the online interface and software is quite accessible to anyone who wishes to create a deepfake. https://www.reuters.com/legal/legalindustry/manipulating-reality-intersection-deepfakes-law-2024-02-01.  Someone who wants to create a deepfake only needs to input video or audio clips of an individual and direct an AI program to synthesize artificial video or audio of that individual that by all measures appears real, even if the individual never actually engaged in the depicted activity.  These manipulations have the ability to spread misinformation, undermine individuals’ credibility, and sow distrust on a very large scale.

Education institutions face a number of challenges as they gear up for and start the 2022-2023 school year including, but not limited to, lack of adequate staffing in a number of departments.  These staffing shortages are common in technology departments, where staff and resources have been spread thin trying to meet the increased technology demands of remote workforces, virtual learning by students, and ever changing instructional technology.  To this landscape, the threat of cyberattacks is added.

While employers can realize significant time savings or improvement in the hiring process by implementing technology, employers must ensure that the selected technology is designed and implemented in a way that prevents discrimination based on protected classes such as disability, race, sex, national origin, color, or religion.  Employers may be responsible for violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and/or the Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) even if the discrimination is not intentional or the technology was developed by an outside vendor.

This is the first blog post in a series that will address issues that arise when educational employees work remotely using technology and when students access education remotely including, but not limited to: learning applications, cybersecurity, equity, and accessibility.

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Within the past month, California courts have issued rulings expanding the types of lawsuits that may be filed against website operators for failing to maintain certain accessibility standards.  Given these rulings and the U.S. Department of Education, Office for Civil Rights’ recent trend towards focusing on website accessibility for local educational agencies (LEA), it is more important than ever to assess whether your websites meet industry standards for accessibility.

Across the country, students, parents, and community members rely on websites as a primary source for information about their children’s education, meal planning, and community events. The websites may be operated by a school, a district, a county office of education, or a state-level educational agency. A recent study entitled Tracking: EDU: Education Agency Website Security and Privacy Practices, produced by consulting firm EdTech Strategies, LLC, highlights significant privacy, online surveillance, and other security issues with the websites of many school districts and state departments of education.

As the business world becomes more digital and mobile, the swords and shields used in litigation often take the form of electronically stored information. We frequently advise clients and remind opposing counsel to preserve all documents, including electronically stored information, when they reasonably know that litigation might ensue or as soon a potential claim is identified. (See In re Napster, Inc ...

Despite YouTube’s Popularity with School-Age Youth, Teachers Should Think Twice Before Asking Students to Upload Class Projects to YouTube

In a previous post, we discussed some of the legal issues associated with students uploading coursework on YouTube. This EdLawConnect entry continues that discussion.

Bullying-Related Concerns

Perhaps the most salient concern with students uploading their own ...

ConnectEDU, a college and career advising startup that holds the personal information of millions of students, declared Chapter 11 bankruptcy in April 2014. ConnectEDU developed college- and career-planning sites where students could create personal profiles. As a result, ConnectEDU held a considerable amount of personally identifiable information including students’ names, dates of birth ...

When educational institutions first embraced technology, a boilerplate Acceptable Use Policy (“AUP”) was generally sufficient to address many concerns about inappropriate behaviors, user expectations, system ownership, and electronic communications. In order to secure funding and grants, most institutions timely implemented an AUP and moved onto other more pressing issues. As technology ...