The White House is working with bipartisan sponsors on a bill to protect data collected from students through educational apps - the first of President Barack Obama's "Big Data" privacy plans to gain traction in the Republican-controlled Congress. Obama has pushed to do more to protect privacy in an age when consumers leave a trail of digital footprints through smart phones, personal devices and social media - information that can be collected, analyzed and sold.
He has proposed action on a series of laws to address "Big Data" concerns, but most have yet to find momentum.That could change, given public concerns over privacy and cybersecurity that have been amplified by high-profile hacking of credit card data at companies such as Target and Home Depot, said top Obama adviser John Podesta.
"I think there's much more pressure now to move legislation and we're certainly going to use all of the resources we have, including the president's time, to ensure that the Congress takes this up," Podesta told Reuters in an interview.
In the next couple of weeks, Indiana Congressman Luke Messer, the chairman of the House of Representatives Republican Policy Committee, and Democrat Jared Polis of Colorado, an Internet entrepreneur who founded a network of charter schools, will unveil a student privacy bill. "Protecting America's children from Big Data shouldn't be a partisan issue," Messer said in a statement. "I'm glad to work across the aisle to find the appropriate balance between technology in the classroom and a parent's right to protect their child's privacy."
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