Bill > S298

This bill, titled "Protecting student privacy," aims to safeguard personally identifiable student data, which includes a student's name, family member names, addresses, and other sensitive information like social security numbers, phone numbers, and email addresses that could be used to identify them. It defines a "personal device" as a student-owned technological device not provided by the school, and "technological device" broadly to include various electronic gadgets. The bill grants educational institutions the authority to restrict or ban personal devices on school grounds, but clarifies that a violation of these rules alone cannot be the sole reason for a school employee to search a student's personal device. Accessing data on a student's personal device is generally prohibited unless there's a reasonable suspicion that the device contains evidence of a separate code of conduct violation, in which case the search must be limited to school property, documented, and narrowly focused on the suspected violation; however, if the suspected conduct is a criminal offense, a judicial warrant is required. Alternatively, access is permitted with a valid warrant or in response to an imminent threat to life or safety, with specific reporting requirements within 72 hours for such emergency access. The bill also mandates that educational institutions maintain a public log of all personal device searches, excluding personally identifiable student data, and review it annually. Crucially, any evidence or information obtained in violation of these provisions will be inadmissible in any legal or disciplinary proceedings.