August 20, 2025

Learn best practices for destroying confidential data

ELEric LyerlyStevens Institute of Technology

Key Points

Effective data destruction practices can prevent data breaches and protect personally identifiable information (PII).
Compliance with FERPA guidelines is crucial for safeguarding student records and ensuring their proper management.
Establishing clear retention policies helps institutions determine when records should be destroyed to meet compliance.
Understanding the legal responsibilities of data handling is essential for educational institutions to protect sensitive information.

Abstract

The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act doesn’t require schools to destroy student records. To reduce technology costs and limit potential data breaches, many schools and districts establish their own retention policies, including timeframes for the eventual destruction of unnecessary records. But how can institutions know if their data destruction practices comply with their FERPA duty to protect personally identifiable information (PII) in a student record?

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Cite This Study

Eric Lyerly (Wed,) studied this question.

synapsesocial.com/papers/68af4eb9ad7bf08b1ead783e https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1002/cala.41687