Student Privacy and BloomBoard's Terms of Use (FERPA)

All participants who are submitting evidence as part of a micro-credential submission or sharing evidence with other participants using BloomBoard's collaboration tools should follow their respective organization's policies regarding student privacy. In addition, please see the following excerpt from our Terms of Use referencing our Privacy Policy and outlining every participant's obligation to follow all applicable laws regarding the use of student data.

 

Terms of Use

All participants are asked to agree to BloomBoard's Terms of Use when first logging into their account.  The excerpt below is taken from the User Content section.

BloomBoard is concerned about your privacy and has developed a policy to address privacy concerns. Please see our Privacy Policy regarding the collection and use of your information. By using this Site, you are consenting to the terms of our Privacy Policy.

You are solely responsible for the profiles, messages, videos, images, notes, text, information, and other content that you upload, publish or display (hereinafter, "post") on or through the Service or the Site, or transmit to or share with other users (collectively the "User Content"). For example, if you post any video footage containing images of students, you must have obtained their parents’ written permission. If you are using BloomBoard on behalf of an educational agency or institution and FERPA applies, before you enter, upload or access any educational records of a minor student, or share such information with other users in Rooms, you must confirm that your agency or institution has (1) obtained appropriate consent from the parent or guardian of that student or (2) determined that one of the limited exceptions to the consent requirement applies. You can find more information on FERPA and related guidance here, and a summary of the limited exceptions here.

BloomBoard Terms of Use

 

When submitting your micro-credential for review, participants will also be asked to agree to BloomBoard's Student Privacy and Academic Integrity policies.

 

 

For more information on how to avoid violating the  Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act while completing your micro-credential, please visit our FERPA FAQ support article.

 

BloomBoard's FERPA Violation Policy:

1st Violation

Participants will be notified through pre-assessment and/or assessment feedback in the BloomBoard platform when a FERPA violation is present in their evidence and assessed as Not Met. Artifacts with a FERPA violation will be removed from the submission.

Any evidence containing a FERPA violation must be removed and the participant will need to resubmit their portfolio to move forward with the assessment process and earn the micro-credential.

 

2nd Violation

Participants will be notified through pre-assessment and/or assessment feedback in the BloomBoard platform when a FERPA violation is present in their evidence and assessed as Not Met. Artifacts with a FERPA violation will be removed from the submission.  In addition, participants and their organizational lead will receive formal communication from BloomBoard Support alerting them of the second FERPA violation.

Any evidence containing a FERPA violation must be removed and the participant will need to resubmit their portfolio to move forward with the assessment process and earn the micro-credential.

3rd Violation

Participants will be notified through pre-assessment and/or assessment feedback in the BloomBoard platform when a FERPA violation is present in their evidence and assessed as Not Met. Artifacts with a FERPA violation will be removed from the submission.  In addition, a member from the BloomBoard team will request a meeting with the participant’s organizational lead in order to assess the participant’s future participation in the program. 

Any evidence containing a FERPA violation must be removed and the participant will need to resubmit their portfolio to move forward with the assessment process and earn the micro-credential.

Please note, if a participant reaches a third FERPA violation, their participation and access to BloomBoard may be at risk.