A Colorado bill restricting technology companies from using or selling student data to create profiles or target advertising was laid over Wednesday halfway through testimony.
The House Education Committee had limited time during Wednesday’s meeting and only managed to get through about half of the people signed up to speak to lawmakers about .
The committee will hear the rest of the testimony Friday but will likely hold off on voting until next week.
The bill, Senate Bill 173, .
A Senate amendment, which had caused partisan divisions requiring companies to delete a student’s information after three years, was struck just before heading into the House. Now, the bill requires companies to delete student’s information at the request of the school or the school district.
Discussion Wednesday became technical at times, with lawmakers wanting to know more about the bill’s inability to protect data, or prevent target advertising, when students use sites or applications from their private accounts not tied to contracts with the school or school districts.
Parents who spoke during the hearing urged lawmakers to support the bill. One mother, Kristi Butkovich, representing the Denver Alliance for Public Education, said stricter laws exist in other states and companies still manage to do business there.
“Student information needs legal protection,” Butkovich said.
Yesenia Robles: 303-954-1372, yrobles@denverpost.com or twitter.com/yeseniarobles
