Duffy Amendment Unianimously Passes House

Promotes #Privacy for Students

Washington D.C. - U.S. Representative Sean Duffy (WI-07) introduced an amendment to H.R. 3136, the Advancing Competency-Based Education Demonstration Project, a bill that would give schools the flexibility to base course completion on competency rather than time in a classroom. The Duffy Amendment would require those institutions to notify students of the possibility that software companies they contract with may access their personally identifiable information and could be sold to another party. The Duffy Amendment would also give students an opportunity to opt-out from having their personally identifiable information sold.

During debate on the Amendment, Rep. Duffy emphasized the importance of giving Americans, particularly college students, these notifications and options.

“This is about empowering students: giving them the power and control over their personally identifiable information. If they choose to have it sold, so be it; they give permission – just like when they make a post on Facebook or a tweet on Twitter. But if they don’t give consent, let’s not allow schools to take their information and sell it without their permission.”

Click on the image to watch the full debate:

The Amendment passed the House of Representatives by voice vote and was met with widespread praise from Members on both sides of the aisle.

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