ACLU of Hawai‘i lauds Rep. Matthew LoPrestiʻs local efforts to Advance Student and Employee Privacy
Learn more: https://www.aclu.org/blog/speak-freely/campaign-takectrl-our-privacy-sweeps-nation-and-you-thought-bipartisanship-was
Honolulu, Hawai‘i: Today, Rep. Matthew LoPresti (Ewa Beach) urged his legislative colleagues to advance student data privacy and employee social media privacy in Hawai‘i.
LoPresti joins a diverse, bipartisan coalition of legislators across the country in calling for stronger protections for the public’s digital privacy. Together, legislators in sixteen states and the District of Columbia have introduced a range of new legislation that includes protections for student privacy, location tracking and personal data. The multi-state effort is using the Twitter hashtag #TakeCTRL.
Rep. LoPresti explained: “Today, I stand with fellow legislators across the country to affirm our states’ and nation’s commitment to protecting Americans’ privacy. I am introducing common-sense measures to protect the privacy of students and employees in Hawai`i. Governments and businesses should work to protect individuals’ privacy, not violate it.”
Mandy Finlay, Advocacy Coordinator, ACLU of Hawai`i, agreed: “The Hawai`i Constitution explicitly recognizes the people’s right to privacy, and compels the legislature to implement measures protecting this right. Privacy means exercising control over our own personal information and our own lives. We are grateful to Representative LoPresti for his efforts today, which reaffirm Hawaii’s position as a leader in this area."
Rep. LoPresti’s student data privacy bill seeks to empower students and parents by protecting student privacy on two fronts: first, the bill would prevent third parties (including private companies) from gaining remote access to private student information stored on school servers or school-supplied devices; second, it would help ensure that students’ rights are respected on campus when it comes to their personal devices by limiting the ability of school officials to seize and search them.
In addition to his student data legislation, Rep. LoPresti will reintroduce his employee social media bill, to prohibit employers from snooping on personal social media accounts by requiring or requesting that employees and potential employees share their account credentials.
