Peeling Back the Student Privacy Pledge

Education software is a multi-billion dollar industry that is rapidly growing. The federal government has encouraged this growth through a series of initiatives that reward schools for tracking and aggregating student data. Amid this increasingly digitized education landscape, parents and educators have begun to raise concerns about the scope and security of student data collection. Industry players, rather than policymakers, have so far led efforts to protect student data. Central to these efforts is the Student Privacy Pledge, a set of standards that providers of digital education services have voluntarily adopted. By many accounts, the Pledge has been a success. Since its introduction in 2014, over 300 companies have signed on, indicating widespread commitment to the Pledge’s seemingly broad protections for student privacy. This industry participation is encouraging, but the Pledge does not contain any meaningful oversight or enforcement provisions. This Article analyzes whether signatory companies are actually complying with the Pledge rather than just paying lip service to its goals. By looking to the privacy policies and terms of service of a sample of the Pledge’s signatories, I conclude that noncompliance may be a significant and prevalent issue. Consumers of education software have some power to hold signatories accountable, but their oversight abilities are limited. This Article argues that the federal government, specifically the Federal Trade Commission, is best positioned to enforce compliance with the Pledge and should hold Pledge signatories to their promises

Peeling Back the Student Privacy Pledge

Education software is a multi-billion dollar industry that is rapidly growing. The federal government has encouraged this growth through a series of initiatives that reward schools for tracking and aggregating student data. Amid this increasingly digitized education landscape, parents and educators have begun to raise concerns about the scope and security of student data collection. Industry players, rather than policymakers, have so far led efforts to protect student data. Central to these efforts is the Student Privacy Pledge, a set of standards that providers of digital education services have voluntarily adopted. By many accounts, the Pledge has been a success. Since its introduction in 2014, over 300 companies have signed on, indicating widespread commitment to the Pledge’s seemingly broad protections for student privacy. This industry participation is encouraging, but the Pledge does not contain any meaningful oversight or enforcement provisions. This Article analyzes whether signatory companies are actually complying with the Pledge rather than just paying lip service to its goals. By looking to the privacy policies and terms of service of a sample of the Pledge’s signatories, I conclude that noncompliance may be a significant and prevalent issue. Consumers of education software have some power to hold signatories accountable, but their oversight abilities are limited. This Article argues that the federal government, specifically the Federal Trade Commission, is best positioned to enforce compliance with the Pledge and should hold Pledge signatories to their promises

How Globalisation Shapes Public Policy? A Case of Azerbaijan

Is globalisation a conductive or destructive force for public policy development in the countries of transition? The problem is investigated through an example of oil-rich Azerbaijan. This paper first presents the current situation in the country, defines links between globalisation and public policy and describes empirical research and its main findings. The paper then explores the circumstances that have prompted such a development and concludes with the possible policy implications.Azerbaijan; Globalisation; Public Policy; Corruption

Problems of Cultural Integration in Transition Societies – Case Study of Bulgaria

The paper studies the opportunities of integrating minorities with the rest of the population, turning them into an indivisible part of the society. To realize better this integration many conditions are needed including change in the social attitude to minorities, a rise in their standard of living, overcoming the prejudices existing in society toward them, etc. Creating new jobs and proper investment in the regions populated with minorities would facilitate their cultural integration as the first step in this process. Its efficient realization depends strongly on social capital generated in these communities as a precondition for formal and informal associating with the rest of population. Social capital is expected to play the role of feedback, which would steer the adequacy of the process of integration. Its study is of paramount importance to reveal the mechanism of integration of minorities with the rest of society. The results of the quantitative and qualitativ analysis based on collected primary data are presented for detailed study of the mechanisms of social capital and the way the minorities could be integrated. Among the measures, which could help to cope with the situation are: rise in the access to education, increasing opportunities to find a suitable job, more adequate participation in the political and economic life of the country, etc. In conclusion recommendations are formulated to change the policy toward minorities and to improve the overall economic conditions allowing better social realization and integration.cultural integration, gypsy minority, social capital study

What policies should be there for employment in urban areas of developing countries?

This paper examines employment policies in urban areas of developing world. We follow traditional economic analysis and present the urban unemployment problem as an inequality of labour supply and demand on labour markets. The effects of demand-side and supply-side policies on informal urban employment are investigated through econometrical models. One or several variables are employed as crude proxies for every policy option. The dependent variable is informal urban employment as a per cent of total urban employment, with the data on eighteen developing countries from different parts of the world.Developing countries; Urban unemployment; Employment policies

Giving the ageing of the population how can countries afford pay-as-you-go social insurance pensions?

The paper examines formation and sustainability of Pay-As-You-Go pension systems within the consequences of the ageing of population. Parametric reforms rather than institutional transformation of Pay-As-You-Go systems into funded pension schemes are advocated. Following the modern theories of family economics and contrary to the mainstream works on the issue, reciprocal causation between pension systems and ageing is stressed. The paper concludes that the World Bank’s first pillar adjustment for maintaining the Pay-As-You-Go schemes achieves its objectives only if it is focused on all elements of the Pay-As-You-Go system.Pensions; Pay-As-You-Go; Ageing

Symmetry classes of alternating sign matrices in the nineteen-vertex model

The nineteen-vertex model on a periodic lattice with an anti-diagonal twist is investigated. Its inhomogeneous transfer matrix is shown to have a simple eigenvalue, with the corresponding eigenstate displaying intriguing combinatorial features. Similar results were previously found for the same model with a diagonal twist. The eigenstate for the anti-diagonal twist is explicitly constructed using the quantum separation of variables technique. A number of sum rules and special components are computed and expressed in terms of Kuperberg's determinants for partition functions of the inhomogeneous six-vertex model. The computations of some components of the special eigenstate for the diagonal twist are also presented. In the homogeneous limit, the special eigenstates become eigenvectors of the Hamiltonians of the integrable spin-one XXZ chain with twisted boundary conditions. Their sum rules and special components for both twists are expressed in terms of generating functions arising in the weighted enumeration of various symmetry classes of alternating sign matrices (ASMs). These include half-turn symmetric ASMs, quarter-turn symmetric ASMs, vertically symmetric ASMs, vertically and horizontally perverse ASMs and double U-turn ASMs. As side results, new determinant and pfaffian formulas for the weighted enumeration of various symmetry classes of alternating sign matrices are obtained.Comment: 61 pages, 13 figure