Which practice helps protect student privacy during data collection?

Which practice helps protect student privacy during data collection?

• A. Publishing data publicly for transparency.
• B. Sharing data with unapproved individuals.
• C. De-identification, limited access, and sharing only with authorized staff.
• D. Storing data on personal devices.

Answer: (C)

Protecting student privacy during data collection hinges on removing identifying details and strictly controlling who can see the data. De-identification reduces the risk that a dataset can identify a student by stripping or masking names, IDs, and other markers. Limiting access ensures only authorized staff or researchers can view the data, supported by access controls, roles, and audit trails. Sharing data only with those who are authorized keeps the data within approved channels and for legitimate educational purposes. Together, these practices safeguard privacy much better than publishing data publicly, sharing with unapproved individuals, or storing data on personal devices.

Protecting student privacy during data collection hinges on removing identifying details and strictly controlling who can see the data. De-identification reduces the risk that a dataset can identify a student by stripping or masking names, IDs, and other markers. Limiting access ensures only authorized staff or researchers can view the data, supported by access controls, roles, and audit trails. Sharing data only with those who are authorized keeps the data within approved channels and for legitimate educational purposes. Together, these practices safeguard privacy much better than publishing data publicly, sharing with unapproved individuals, or storing data on personal devices.