Bill > H7895

This bill, known as the Safe School Technology Act of 2026, aims to ensure Rhode Island schools prioritize effective, age-appropriate instruction while safeguarding student well-being and privacy by establishing new regulations for educational technology. It introduces two new chapters to state law: the Age-Appropriate School Device Act and the Ensuring Safe School Software Act. The Age-Appropriate School Device Act defines terms like "caregiver" (a parent or guardian) and "digital device" (any electronic hardware used for instruction), and mandates that schools disable cameras on school-issued devices to reduce cyberbullying, block social media apps, and set all privacy and safety settings to their highest levels before providing devices to students, while also ensuring caregivers can opt their children out of school-issued devices or online testing without penalty. The Ensuring Safe School Software Act defines terms such as "addictive design feature" (elements that encourage excessive use) and "independently verified" (checked by an unbiased third party), and requires the Rhode Island Attorney General, in collaboration with the Department of Education, to set and annually review standards for educational technology, ensuring that any "instructional technology tool" used in schools is safe, effective, and legally compliant, prohibiting features like generative AI, targeted advertising, and addictive design, and requiring providers to be transparent about data collection and usage, obtain caregiver consent for data sharing, and delete student data upon request, with providers needing to register annually and pay a fee, and certified technologies being listed on the Department of Education's website.

Education

https://status.rilegislature.gov/