What is SOPPA?

The Student Online Personal Protection Act, or SOPPA, is the data privacy law that regulates student data collection and use by schools, the Illinois State Board of Education, and education technology (EdTech) vendors.

On August 23, 2019, Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker signed into law an updated version of SOPPA that gives parents greater control over student data. Among the changes is a new requirement to enact breach notifications that are available to the public. SOPPA will also require Illinois school districts to provide additional guarantees that student data is protected when collected by EdTech companies and that data is used for beneficial purposes only.