The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) is a Federal law administered by the U.S. Department of Education; 34 CFR Part 99. FERPA applies to all educational agencies and institutions that receive federal funding.
FERPA aims to protect the privacy of Student Education Records. Education records include any record containing Personally Identifiable Information (PII) directly related to the student. PII is not limited to name, but may include indirect identifiers as well.
Examples of documents that contain personally identifiable information:
The use of educational records for research purposes requires consent. A consent form must:
This may include a signature in an electronic form that
1) Identifies and authenticates a particular person as the source of the electronic consent and
2) Indicates such a person's approval of the information contained in the electronic consent.