Does Turnitin comply with FERPA (Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act)?
FERPA generally prohibits schools and educational agencies from releasing personally identifiable information from a student’s educational record without consent. When analyzing whether the Turnitin system violates any provisions under FERPA, remember that the focus of FERPA is not the content of the student’s work, but the student author’s personally identifiable information (e.g., name, home or email address, etc.) submitted along with the content, and to whom that information is released. Assuming school assignments do not contain information that would make the student’s identity easily traceable (such as family member names or adddress, or social security numbers), the content of student work alone does not implicate FERPA. However, if you are concerned about student privacy, it is recommended to use aliases for actual student names when submitting papers for review by Turnitin.com.
