Privacy is a precious commodity, as once something gets out, it can never be ‘unrevealed’ again. Ohio resident LothlorienBrass on Reddit claims their disabled son’s public school “accidentally” posted his IEP publicly online. This information includes the child’s “name, student ID, accommodations, evaluations and teacher notes completely unredacted.” If that wasn’t egregious enough, school staff allegedly claim they “can’t remove it” now.
In their post on r/legaladvice, LothlorienBrass explained how they caught wind of their child’s privacy records exposure from another parent. “The PDF had apparently been public for four days and is indexed by Google,” OP wrote. When they brought it up with the school, only then did the district remove the direct link but denied its complete removal.
The reason was that they can’t alter the archived version because the board packets are “official records.” Though staff did offer to request that Google stop showing the records in search results. LothlorienBrass was understandably not satisfied with this response, saying, “I never consented to any public disclosure of his IEP.” Now, OP is left wondering whether FERPA will help them in this situation.
Reddit Argued the Ohio School Was Lying About Removing the Son’s Private Information
Redditors accuse the school of lying, with the top commenter arguing staff can “absolutely redact and pull the archived version and should [be] jumping through hoops to get it done.” Even though it was an accidental mistake, that doesn’t exempt them from protecting a student’s privacy. After all, the Ohio Department of Education specifically states that any personal information that could put a student or family at risk is “private information the school must protect.”
“Why is this information going to board members to begin with?” questioned another user. “It’s well past time to get a lawyer,” remarked a third. “This is a VIOLENT violation of your son’s FERPA,” exclaimed a third.
In the end, mistakes happen, and one school staff member’s mistake disclosed a student’s private information. But what the student’s parent finds outrageous is how the school refuses to change its “official records” and properly correct the mistake. Even so, LothlorienBrass’s son’s private information was leaked online, and now it can never be ‘unleaked.’
