Student Data Privacy Options with Digital Course Materials Programs
On average, educational institutions receive more than 1,000 cyberattacks per week, putting instructors and students at risk of fraud, theft, and extortion. Breaches in data privacy and student information not only put the school’s reputation on the line but also negatively impact student success.
While the growth of digital learning has revolutionized the education system for good, many institutions — and specifically, the students on campus — experience serious threats of data infringement.
Fortunately, there are new technologies working to protect student data while maintaining open-access solutions to digital course materials. One solution, Willo Labs, is securely leading campus technology into the future. Here’s how to utilize such a solution to prioritize data privacy while reaping the benefits of digital course material access.
Data Vulnerabilities on Campuses Today
Education IT departments are a critical part of overall campus network security. They’re the leading support resource when instructors, faculty, and students face technology challenges or personal information concerns. But even with the most robust IT team on staff, no campus is fully protected from data breaches.
In 2021, the average cost of data breaches in the education industry was $3.8 million, according to the latest IBM Data Breach Report. Although the education sector has data regulations in place, institutions often lack security models that specifically protect students.
Primarily, student PII (personally identifiable information) is vulnerable to phishing and third-party sales. Digital course platforms, although they claim to be secure, often leave room for third-party providers to collect and sell student data without consent. Unfortunately, student information can be used in cases of marketing solicitation, identity theft, and financial fraud.
What causes this to happen? The most likely situations include compromised credentials and ransomware attacks. Ransomware is the malicious encryption of digital information that limits user access until a specific amount of money is paid to the hacker. This is more likely to happen when students and instructors have multiple individual logins to manage for many different digital platforms.
Student Data Safety Requirements for eLearning
The U.S. Department of Education states, “Educational institutions should take appropriate steps to safeguard student records. Breaches of educational data are common and can lead to a violation of FERPA, as well as to a host of negative consequences for students such as identity theft, fraud, and extortion.”
High levels of data exchange take place on campuses every day: from student data to the campus store, course material publisher to LMS, Bursar’s office to student information system (SIS), LMS to the instructor, and more. What if there was one secure tool that could manage, organize, and safeguard all these data connections?
One solution to campus data risks is an integrative platform that uses single sign-on (SSO). SSO can reduce the widespread data breaches students and colleges face, supporting greater campus network security features at every level; every department.
As hybrid and online learning becomes the norm, students need an all-in-one digital tool that secures all these important data connections. Willo Labs is the first and only adoption management tool to offer this, providing data privacy and security to campuses.
Willo: Digital Courseware Options for Student Protection and Success
Willo equips campuses with the control they need for all digital course materials. And we do this with student privacy in mind. Using Willo, more than 1,000 campuses across North America are reducing student security risks by 99%. Students gain access to data privacy options from anonymous use of course materials to Consent Mode with third-party providers.
Willo’s Data Security features for higher education bring your campus:
- Student data protection and privacy
- Automatic anonymization of students when they register
- No data sales to third parties
- Secure grade syncing to any LMS
- Billing and access management
- Codeless access to digital course materials
- And more!
Keep your students’ private information on campus, all through one software. See how Willo can secure your campus data as online education advances into the future. Book a free Willo demo today to get started.