SB 79 was put forth as a protection of student data.  Everyone voted for it because who would want child predators to have access to children’s data?….. it passed 17-4 in the Senate.(Lavelle, Pettyjohn, Lopez, Richardson scoring the no votes) and passed 40-0 in the House.

They were tricked.

An amendment was offered. SS1. Ostensibly to change typos.  “deleting certain definitions; and (9) correcting minor typographical errors.” –– Synopsis. 

What was not seen were these few words…. “The Act is substituted for Senate Bill No. 79 and differs from Senate Bill No. 79 by (1) creating a new chapter in Title 14 of the Delaware Code creating the “Student Data Privacy Protection Act”; (2) deleting provisions addressing data security and privacy responsibilities of the Department of Education in favor of establishing the Student Data Privacy Task Force to study and report on those issues as part of a comprehensive evaluation of student data privacy and security within the State’s public education system;

Did you catch that?

The provisions addressing data security and privacy responsibilities currently in code, are deleted immediately, whereas a task force chokes along at turtle’s pace to discuss and develop appropriate safeguards for child privacy. This creates a time gap where data can be shared to anyone with impunity.

A normal policy would be to set up a task force designed to make changes and after voting those recommendations, the new law takes over. The old law continues intact until the new one takes hold. Instead, this bill (SS!)  gets rid of the “protections” immediately. and sets up a task force to determine what protections our children need. By then, all data has been downloaded to corporate data banks….. It is as if we just let convicted convicts out of prison while investigating human rights abuses alleged to have taken place upon them..

So currently there is no entity guarding your child’s data.

Below is who paid lobbyists to write and push this bill…. Google.  Delaware Business Roundtable, Amazon, Microsoft Corporation, Verizon, Delaware Charter Network,

Here is what is in the bill.

Nothing in this subsection prohibits an operator from using or sharing aggregate student data or de-identified student data

for: The development and improvement of the operator’s Internet website, online or cloud computing service, online application, or mobile application, or other educational Internet websites, online or cloud computing services, online applications, or mobile applications.

The words “or other” means your students info is available to anyone.

for: to demonstrate the effectiveness of the operator’s products or services, including their marketing.

Your child’s data can be freely given to marketers.

The provisions of Section 1 of this Act do not apply to projects relating to the privacy and security of student data approved prior to the effective date of this Act...under the Department of Education’s data governance regulation, § 294, Title 14 of the Delaware Administrative Code, in existence on the effective date of this Act.

This act does not apply to old regulations it just got rid of.

Section 1 of this Act becomes effective on August 1 the first full year following the Act’s enactment into law. Sections 2 through 4 of this Act become effective upon the Act’s enactment into law.

There you have it… Section 1 outlines the general privacy planks of the bill it replaced which are not in effect until one full year after signing.

Section 2: which annuls all previous protections in Title 14 and is effective immediately.

Section 3: establishment of a task force can begin immediately while no protections are in place.

Section 4: establishes that if any part of the act is later deemed unconstitutional or replaced by the General Assembly, the rest of the bill still remains intact. In other words, it is severable.  This is in effect now.

Bottom line: your child’s data is already out there in cyber land, thanks to Dave Sokola and Earl Jacques among others.

So how could the General Assembly have been so completely duped?  Even the educational watchdogs? Rather easy actually.  One has to read the bill with the specific intent of figuring how it will be abused, in order to see it…  Since we know the sponsors Sokola and Jacques.  We know there had to be something evil in this bill and so we looked at it long and hard to find out how it was constructed and that clued us in where the violation was.

But in the General Assembly, if a trusted official tells you an amendment replaces typos, you tend to believe it. You skim the bill and see that it replaces existing policy. it establishes a task force, it protects children’s data from going to marketers, and you vote for it…

What you missed was in the timing, how there would be a gap between opening the gate and closing it…  Very clever actually. And all of them were fooled.

So sorry parents.  Pedophiles (among others) now have your child’s data.

Here are the lobbyists so you can recognized their names when they publish op-ed pieces defending their actions…

  • Christopher V. DiPietro
  • Rebecca Byrd
  • Robert L. Byrd
  • Kimberly B. Gomes
  • Jordan Seemans
  • Rhett Ruggerio
  • Melissa Hopkins
  • Cheryl Heik
  • Rhett Ruggerio
  • Kim Willson
  • Jeremy Kudon
  • Scott Ward
  • Deborah Hamilton
  • Paul Herdman
  • Ron Barnes

It appears the prime motive behind this bill is to allow charter access to explicit private specific data files on public school children so they can be hand-picked, culled, marketed to, and manipulated into signing onto charter schools.

That motive would explain this best. But due to the broad nature of this bill it also now allows pedophiles with enough money to buy reports,, the same exact same access to your child’s data at least for this one year.