House Bill No. 5561 for an act relating to education – student computer device privacy was introduced, on 15 February 2023, to the Rhode Island House of Representatives and thereafter referred, on the same date, to the House Innovation, Internet, and Technology Committee. Subsequently, the Committee recommended the bill for passage on 2 March 2023, and following further study, on 4 April 2023, recommended the passage of the bill again. In particular, the bill provides that no educational institution or school district shall activate or access, or request a third party, other than a student's parent or legal guardian, to activate or access, any audio or video receiving, transmitting, or recording functions on a student's institutional device or personal device, unless:

• the student initiates the activation for educational purposes and access is limited to that purpose;
• the activation is pursuant to a judicial warrant; or
• the activation is reasonably necessary to respond to a suspected imminent threat to life or safety and is limited to that purpose.

Further, the bill outlines that within 72 hours of activating and/or accessing, or requesting activation and/or access by a third party, students and their parent or legal guardian must receive a written explanation of the precise threat that prompted access and the data and features activated.  

More specifically, the bill highlights that no educational institution or school district may access or use location data for tracking a student's institutional device or personal device, or request a third party to do so, unless:

• the activation is pursuant to a judicial warrant;
• the student has notified that the device is missing or stolen, or the device has not been returned when required for inventory purposes;
• the activation is reasonably necessary to respond to a suspected imminent threat to life or safety and is limited to that purpose; or
• the data is retrieved in a de-identified manner and used to determine whether the device is on or off-site.  

Finally, the bill notes it would enter into effect on 1 August 2023.

The bill is a companion to Senate Bill No. 702. 

You can read the bill here and track its progress here, using the search bar.