Illinois Student Privacy Alliance (ISPA)
The Illinois-specific alliance of the national Student Data Privacy Consortium (SDPC)
Supporting School Districts Implementing SOPPA
The Illinois Student Privacy Alliance is a free consortium that allows school districts to access management tools and resources for data privacy agreements. When used in conjunction with clear policies and procedures, ISPA allows districts to comply with Illinois’ new Student Online Personal Protection Act (SOPPA).
News & Updates
- SecurED Schools will feature sessions addressing SOPPA and ISPA.
- Chris Wherley has formed a working group to begin utilizing ISPA/SDPC tools. Contact Chris at cwherley@ltcillinois.org if you are interested in joining.
About ISPA and SDPC
The Learning Technology Center (LTC) formed the Illinois Student Privacy Alliance (ISPA) in partnership with the Access 4 Learning Community’s Student Data Privacy Consortium (SDPC). SDPC is a national collaborative of schools, districts, and state agencies that are working together to address growing student data privacy concerns by developing real-world, adaptable, and implementable solutions. The goal of the ISPA is to set standards of both practice and expectations around student privacy such that all parties involved have a common understanding of expectations. The LTC’s creation of ISPA also means that all PK-12 districts in Illinois are now able to use the resources provided by the SPDC without additional cost to the district.
The free membership to ISPA includes:
- Access to tools to manage and share data privacy agreements;
- A searchable database of applications and vendors who have signed the statewide agreement with at least one school or districts; and
- Membership into the LTC’s online data privacy community where schools and districts discuss privacy issues.
Joining and using ISPA / SDPC
All Illinois school districts are invited to join the Illinois Student Privacy Alliance. After applying and being approved, we recommend that you review the resources below and/or attend one of our trainings. Questions about joining ISPA can be directed to Angela Veatch at aveatch@ltcillinois.org, and questions about using ISPA/SDPC tools can be directed toward Chris Wherley at cwherley@ltcillinois.org.
National Data Privacy Agreement
The National Data Privacy Agreement (NDPA) was developed by the Student Data Privacy Consortium (SDPC), a special interest group of the non-profit Access 4 Learning (A4L) Community, in partnership with the 28 state Alliances addressing their specific state needs. After two years of extensive review and comments from schools, districts, state organizations, marketplace providers and their legal representatives, SDPC published the NDPA in September 2020. Since then, the Learning Technology Center has encouraged districts to adopt the NDPA with the Illinois Exhibit to help streamline the educational application contracting process.
