Wyoming Student Data Privacy and District Governance Guide

Primary Focus
Wyoming districts typically implement student privacy through federal requirements (FERPA, COPPA, PPRA) and local governance practices for vendor oversight, security, and transparency.

Key References
FERPA (20 U.S.C. 1232g); COPPA (15 U.S.C. 6501 et seq.) and FTC COPPA guidance for schools

Official Resources
https://www2.ed.gov/policy/gen/guid/fpco/ferpa/index.html
https://www.ftc.gov/business-guidance/resources/complying-coppa-frequently-asked-questions#N.%20COPPA%20AND%20SCHOOLS

Overview

Wyoming schools and districts handle student data privacy primarily through federal student privacy laws and strong local governance practices. This approach emphasizes controlling access to education records, limiting disclosures to what is authorized, and evaluating edtech vendors to ensure student data is used only for legitimate educational purposes with appropriate security safeguards.

Because many classroom tools are vendor-hosted, districts benefit most from a repeatable process for reviewing apps, documenting approvals, and ensuring data-sharing aligns with FERPA expectations and COPPA guidance when tools involve younger students.

Applicability and Scope

Wyoming privacy expectations are most relevant when districts:

• Use online learning platforms, assessment tools, or classroom apps that collect student information
• Share roster data or provide vendor access to education records or student identifiers
• Deploy tools for students under 13 where COPPA considerations are common

Core Compliance Themes (Practical District Lens)

District implementation commonly centers on three themes:

• Purpose limitation: student data should be used only to provide the educational service the district approved
• Disclosure control: share only what is necessary and ensure recipients are bound to confidentiality and security obligations
• Security and lifecycle: confirm reasonable safeguards, breach response commitments, and deletion/retention practices

Vendor Review and Documentation

Districts typically operationalize privacy compliance by standardizing vendor review questions and keeping records of approvals so decisions can be revisited when products change.

Common review questions include:

• What student data is collected (identifiers, student work, communications, analytics)?
• Is the vendor prohibited from selling data or using it for advertising or non-school profiling?
• What are the vendor's security controls and breach notification commitments?
• What are retention and deletion options if the district stops using the tool?

How Can EdPrivacy Help Wyoming Schools

Wyoming districts need a system that makes vendor oversight simple and consistent across many tools, even when the controlling requirements come from federal law and district policy. EdPrivacy helps districts centralize inventories, documentation, and approval decisions so privacy governance is easier to run at scale.

The platform helps districts:

• Maintain a district-wide inventory of apps and services and identify which ones touch education records
• Store vendor privacy policies, security documentation, and contract artifacts in one place
• Document approval decisions and any conditions (data minimization, purpose-only use, deletion expectations)
• Track policy changes and trigger periodic re-review so approvals stay current

Summary

Wyoming districts should be prepared to:

• Align vendor use of student data to FERPA expectations and district authorization
• Apply COPPA-informed practices for tools used with students under 13
• Use repeatable vendor review, documentation, and monitoring workflows
• Verify security controls and data lifecycle practices for vendor-hosted tools

A governance-first approach helps Wyoming districts maintain consistent privacy protections across a changing edtech landscape.