LC 5.9: Student Privacy Act (Passed)

[OneJ]

Student Privacy Act

To protect basic privacy rights for students in Lincoln

1. "School" shall be defined as any institution for education of students K-12 legally recognised by the Region of Lincoln, including public and private institutions.
2. All bathroom stalls in schools, except for urinals in male bathrooms, shall have a locking door which fully obfuscates any persons inside the stall. No device for recording photographs or videos shall be installed in bathrooms.
3. Students in schools shall not be subject to random searches of personal items without reasonable cause which would not otherwise be legally permissible. No student shall be asked to remove articles of clothing for a search.
4. No school shall search data on personal electronic devices, which are not owned by the government or institution, except for by court order, nor shall students be disciplined for information uploaded to the internet which is not otherwise illegal, nor shall schools attempt to bypass security measures which renders said data otherwise inaccessible.
5. No student shall be disciplined, humiliated, or otherwise harmed by schools for personal beliefs, This shall not be construed as to prevent debate.

Sponsor: TBD
Status: Debating

The debating period for this bill has commenced. It shall last no less than 72 hours.

[OneJ]

I also motion that I sponsor the bill. Councilors have 24 hours to object to the motion.

[Esteemed Jimmy]

I support this bill.

[S019]

24 hours have passed, so the Speaker will sponsor the bill

I’d like to propose an amendment that makes this bill more reasonable and a bit more moderate and realistic:

1. "School" shall be defined as any institution for education of students K-12 legally recognised by the Region of Lincoln, including public and private institutions.
2. All bathroom stalls in schools, except for urinals in male bathrooms, shall have a locking door which fully obfuscates any persons inside the stall. No device for recording photographs or videos shall be installed in bathrooms.
3. Students in schools shall not be subject to random searches of personal items without reasonable cause which would not otherwise be legally permissible unless usage of the items either severely distracts from the classroom environment or poses a severe threat to the student or to other students. No student shall be asked to remove articles of clothing for a search unless there is reasonable cause that they are doing something that is not legally permissible .
4. No school shall search data on personal electronic devices, which are not owned by the government or institution, except for by court order, nor shall students be disciplined for information uploaded to the internet which is not otherwise illegal, nor shall schools attempt to bypass security measures which renders said data otherwise inaccessible.
5. 4. No student shall be disciplined, humiliated, or otherwise harmed by schools for personal beliefs, This shall not be construed as to prevent debate.

[AustralianSwingVoter]

Well that's removed the whole purpose of the bill, which is to stop School's infringing on Student's Right to Privacy. The schools can still violate a student's privacy as long as they meet some meaningless definitions.

[OneJ]

I'll object to the latest amendment put forth by the Chancellor. I initially thought it might've been fine but ASV brought up a strong point about schools overriding the students' right to privacy.

[AustralianSwingVoter]

I'll object to the latest amendment put forth by the Chancellor. I initially thought it might've been fine but ASV brought up a strong point about schools overriding the students' right to privacy.

The right to privacy is absolute. If you're going to put in blaring exceptions schools are going to keep doing what they're currently doing and just say it counts in the exceptions no matter what.
And under no circumstance should schools be strip-searching children, with no exceptions.

[OneJ]

I'll object to the latest amendment put forth by the Chancellor. I initially thought it might've been fine but ASV brought up a strong point about schools overriding the students' right to privacy.

The right to privacy is absolute. If you're going to put in blaring exceptions schools are going to keep doing what they're currently doing and just say it counts in the exceptions no matter what.
And under no circumstance should schools be strip-searching children, with no exceptions.

Yes, I happen to agree with this as the waters could indeed get murky on this issue and something that I should have taken into consideration as well.

[AustralianSwingVoter]

I'll object to the latest amendment put forth by the Chancellor. I initially thought it might've been fine but ASV brought up a strong point about schools overriding the students' right to privacy.

The right to privacy is absolute. If you're going to put in blaring exceptions schools are going to keep doing what they're currently doing and just say it counts in the exceptions no matter what.
And under no circumstance should schools be strip-searching children, with no exceptions.

Yes, I happen to agree with this as the waters could indeed get murky on this issue and something that I should have taken into consideration as well.

And why should Schools be allowed to seize a student's electronic data without a court order? Why should schools be allowed to seize data in a way that no other government body can?

[Sirius_]

Electronic data should be considered just as private as physical belongings, and far too often have schools in Atlasia brought non-school social media posts into their actions which in completely unacceptable. If schools can enforce their rules outside of their boundaries then students essentially live in a police state. Citizens of Atlasia have a constitutional right from unreasonable search, and the Convention on the Rights of the Child, a treaty to which Atlasia and just about every other country on earth is a signatory to, explicitly lists privacy as a right for minors. Students shouldn't have to live in fear of what they have on private electronic devices and social media accounts.

[Former President tack50]

For what's worth the First and Second Councils of Lincoln heavily debated the issue of student rights with a different bill written by Mr R. The final product was eventually rejected 2-1-5, but there's still a lot of discussion there if anyone wants to read it

https://uselectionatlas.org/FORUM/index.php?topic=317214.0

[OneJ]

I don't really have anything to add to the debate as quite a few have already voiced their opinions on the bill mostly what I agree with. Unless a councilor motions to extend the debating period, it will end soon and I'll motion for a final vote that will have an objection period of 24 hours.

[OneJ]

My mistake. I will open a vote to object the amendment in 24 hours.

[OneJ]

A vote to object to the amendment has opened and will last for 48 hours.

Aye

[S019]

Nay

[Pragmatist_TNAG]

Aye

[OneJ]

By a vote of 2-1, the aye's have it and the vote to object the amendment has passed.

I motion for a final vote.

[S019]

No objections from me

But, it’s worth saying that I believe that this bill, as it is, is far too broad and I think it needs to be clarified a bit. Goes without saying that I won’t support this version of the bill.

[S019]

Senator Peanut has informed me that today and tomorrow are non-sitting days, so this motion will have to take effect at 1:27 AM on the 26th, and thus Councilors have until 1:27 AM on December 27 to object

[OneJ]

The final vote for 5.9 has opened and councilors have 48 hours to vote AYE, NAY, or abstain.

[S019]

NAY

[OneJ]

Aye

[Pragmatist_TNAG]

Aye

[OneJ]

AYE: 2 (OneJ_, Pragmatist_TNAG)
NAY: 1 (S019)
Abstain: 0

By a vote of 2-1, the aye's have it and LC 5.9 has passed.

[Esteemed Jimmy]

Student Privacy Act

To protect basic privacy rights for students in Lincoln

1. "School" shall be defined as any institution for education of students K-12 legally recognised by the Region of Lincoln, including public and private institutions.
2. All bathroom stalls in schools, except for urinals in male bathrooms, shall have a locking door which fully obfuscates any persons inside the stall. No device for recording photographs or videos shall be installed in bathrooms.
3. Students in schools shall not be subject to random searches of personal items without reasonable cause which would not otherwise be legally permissible. No student shall be asked to remove articles of clothing for a search.
4. No school shall search data on personal electronic devices, which are not owned by the government or institution, except for by court order, nor shall students be disciplined for information uploaded to the internet which is not otherwise illegal, nor shall schools attempt to bypass security measures which renders said data otherwise inaccessible.
5. No student shall be disciplined, humiliated, or otherwise harmed by schools for personal beliefs, This shall not be construed as to prevent debate.

x. Governor Jimmy7812