Problematic ed tech products approved by DOE — & how you can help!
Oct. 15, 2026
On Tuesday, DOE officials posted on an internal, private section of their website that only school administrators can access a list of 94 ed tech products that they can purchase for use in their schools. They said that these products have gone through their (ineffective) privacy vetting process and are consistent with their new AI/screen time policy.
They cautioned, however, that not every piece of software on the list is approved for use in every school or grade — and that schools and districts “must ensure that use aligns with the AI and Screen Time Policy, including grade-level-specific guidance and requirements.” They also said that more products may be added to this list over time. Moreover, there are likely other ed tech products that DOE central has made available for student use, such as problematic Google products pre-loaded on their Chromebooks.
As noted on this spreadsheet that is now posted on our website, eleven of the ed tech products on the list have no privacy agreements on the DOE webpage, where such agreements by law are supposed to be displayed for all vendors with access to student personal information.
We have serious concerns with other products on the list, even though they have privacy agreements on the DOE webpage, including the PowerSchool Student Information System (SIS), which in December 2024 breached the personal data of millions of students nationwide, including thousands of current and former NYC students.
The data that was obtained by hackers included student names, addresses, their medical information, disability status, IEPs, and more. Over fifty class action lawsuits were filed in different districts now consolidated into a single massive litigation, charging the company and their majority owner Bain Capital with offshoring cybersecurity, engineering, and IT functions to irresponsible subcontractors, whose shoddy practices allowed cybercriminals to access the data.
Other highly problematic PowerSchool products on the DOE approved list include Naviance, which NYC high schools will still be allowed to assign to students for college counseling and application purposes, despite the fact that the company recently agreed to pay $17.25 million to settle a class action lawsuit to families whose kids’ sensitive and personal data was improperly disclosed to third parties through the Naviance platform.
In addition, PowerSchool now faces another national class-action lawsuit on privacy grounds, claiming that its products illegally monetize student and family data, including Naviance and Schoology – another program on the DOE approved list.
Even before the PowerSchool breach and these lawsuits were filed, we strongly advocated with the DOE to stop allowing schools to use PowerSchool products, noting how the Privacy agreement that is still posted on the DOE webpage asserts that the company will comply with federal and state privacy laws only when the company considers them “commercially reasonable.” See the screenshot below.
Since the massive PowerSchool breach, the filing of these lawsuits, and the Naviance settlement occurred, it is simply outrageous that the DOE intends to let schools continue to use these untrustworthy products that put their students’ privacy and safety at risk.
Also on the new list of approved DOE ed tech products are the five AI high school pilot programs. We have now analyzed the public-facing Privacy Policies of these programs, showing that three of the five say that they data-mine student information to improve their products, in violation of the NY student privacy law, Ed Law 2d.
Another of the pilots, Intel AI-Ready Schools, has no public-facing Privacy Policy, though its general Privacy Policy allows for data mining for product improvement, as well as for advertising and marketing purposes – also contrary to the law.
The only AI pilot company where the use of student data for product improvement is specifically prohibited is Brisk, though we have other concerns about that program, which gives immediate and continuous feedback to students while they are in the process of writing, which could undermine their confidence, cognitive development, and independent writing skills. Brisk also uses a chatbot, which would appear to contradict the city’s claim that “Companion chatbots will be prohibited across all grades.”
Here are three steps you can take to challenge the use of these risky ed tech programs:
- Please sign our AI Moratorium petition demanding the cancellation of the high school AI pilots. The privacy and learning of our students should not be put at risk—especially when three of these companies appear to use their personal data in ways that violate the law.
- If you are a parent of a high school student, urge your principal and/or School Leadership Team not to apply to be a pilot. This is a decision that the SLT should be in charge of since they are in responsible for creating the school’s Comprehensive Education Plan.
- Finally, all parents should ask the principal of their children’s schools which ed tech products will be assigned to students and which their teachers will be allowed to use. Parents have a right to know every company and product with potential access to their children’s personal information, according to Ed Law 2D. If they tell you they will be assigning or utilizing a product that isn’t on the approved list, ask why.
We are planning to hold a briefing very soon on the privacy rights that NYC parents have under the law as well as strategies they can use to opt out of these programs.
Thanks, Leonie
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