Privacy Policy & FERPA Compliance Statement
1. Purpose and Scope
This application is a specialized educational tool designed to facilitate group formation and
peer-review workflows. This policy outlines how student data is handled in compliance with the
Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) and university data
protection standards.
Access Restriction: Only students enrolled in Professor Rosario's courses have
access to this system.
This is a faculty-administered pedagogical tool for
Professor Rosario's courses. Data is handled per the Privacy Policy.
2. FERPA Compliance & "School Official" Status
This application operates under the "School Official" exception (34 CFR §
99.31). The administration of this tool is conducted by the Course Instructor who has a
Legitimate Educational Interest in the data collected.
- Institutional Control: The application and its administrator function under
the pedagogical and direct control of the faculty member regarding the use and maintenance
of education records.
- Data Usage: Student data is used exclusively for course-related activities.
We do not sell, trade, or use student data for commercial purposes or targeted advertising.
3. Data Minimization & Identity Abstraction
To maximize student privacy, this app employs a "least-privilege" approach to Personally
Identifiable Information (PII):
- Authentication: Access is managed via GitHub OAuth.
Students are permitted to use GitHub accounts that do not utilize their legal names.
- Decoupled Identifiers: The application does not store or display University
IDs, legal names, or emails "on demand." The mapping between GitHub usernames and student
identities is maintained externally within the University's protected Learning Management
System (e.g., Canvas).
- Selective Visibility: Student identifiers (GitHub usernames) are only
visible to peers within the context of assigned group work or active peer-review cycles.
There is no public or course-wide directory of users.
4. Third-Party Educational Systems
The app acts as an orchestration layer rather than a primary data repository:
- Work Products: Coursework, code, and feedback documents remain hosted on
Google Workspace for Education (Google Drive/Docs), leveraging existing
university-level security and privacy agreements.
- System of Record: Final grades and official assessments are not stored
within this application; they are transmitted to and maintained within
Canvas.
5. Monitoring, Auditing, and Security
To maintain academic integrity and system security:
- Audit Logs: The application performs extensive monitoring and logging of
user actions. Access to these logs is strictly limited to the Course Instructor and
authorized system administrators.
- Data Security: Industry-standard encryption and secure token-based
authentication are used to protect all data in transit and at rest.
6. Data Retention and Disposal
In compliance with university record-keeping requirements:
- One-Year Retention: All course-specific data—including group mappings,
peer-review metadata, and audit logs—is retained for one year following the
final submission of grades for the academic term.
- Permanent Deletion: Upon completion of the one-year retention period, all
student-provided data and associated logs are permanently purged from the application's
database.
Student Privacy FAQ
How is my identity protected?
The app uses your GitHub username to facilitate collaboration. It does not pull your legal
name or student ID. The link between your GitHub handle and your identity in the course is
stored separately in Canvas.
Who can see my GitHub username?
Only the instructor and the specific students assigned to your group or peer-review pool can
see your username. There is no "global search" or directory of students within the app.
Where is my actual work stored?
The app is a "bridge." Your code and documents stay on Google Drive or GitHub, and your
official grades are stored in Canvas. This app primarily manages the process of
peer review.
How long is my data kept?
Per university requirements, the app keeps records of group assignments and reviews for
one year after grades are submitted. After that, the data is permanently
deleted.
⚖️ For Developers
Data Handling Principles
- Minimalism: We only use GitHub usernames for authentication. No PII (Names,
SIDs, or Emails) is stored within this application's database.
- Infrastructure: Official education records (Grades/Files) reside in
university-vetted systems (Canvas & Google Workspace).
- Auditability: All system interactions are logged for academic integrity and
security purposes.
Data Retention Policy
In accordance with university standards, course data is retained for one year
following the conclusion of the academic term. After this period, all database entries and logs
related to the course are purged.
Student Choice
Students are encouraged to use a GitHub account that does not reveal their legal identity to
further abstract their personal data from the peer-review process.