(a) The Legislature finds and declares both of the following:

(1) Pupil data privacy is a priority because pupils are at risk for identity theft when providing their social security numbers.

Terms Used In California Education Code 49076.7

  • School district: means any school district maintaining any kindergarten or any of grades 1 to 12, inclusive, any public school providing instruction in any kindergarten or any of grades 1 to 12, inclusive, the office of the county superintendent of schools, or any special school operated by the department. See California Education Code 49061

(2) A technical brief titled “Data Stewardship: Managing Personally Identifiable Information in Electronic Student Education Records” published by the United States Department of Education states that social security numbers are the single most misused piece of information by criminals perpetrating identity thefts.

(b) A school district, county office of education, or charter school shall not collect or solicit social security numbers or the last four digits of social security numbers from pupils or their parents or guardians unless otherwise required to do so by state or federal law.

(c) The department may additionally prohibit the collection and solicitation of other personally identifiable information, as recommended by the Superintendent and approved by the state board.

(Added by Stats. 2016, Ch. 184, Sec. 1. (AB 2097) Effective January 1, 2017.)