Digital hall pass and behavior platform Minga has earned a data privacy certification from the 1EdTech Consortium. School districts nationwide face growing pressure from parents and regulators to secure student digital records.
What Happened
According to the official announcement, Minga obtained the certification after a review of its data handling and advertising policies. More than 2,500 schools use Minga to manage digital hall passes, tardy tracking, and school communication. To earn this certification, the platform underwent an evaluation against the 1EdTech Consortium's TrustEd Apps rubric.
A Lightspeed Systems case study shows that this rubric assesses what data an app collects, how it secures information, whether it shares data with third parties, and if it targets students with ads. This shared standard saves time for school administrators. The study notes that school districts without centralized app governance spend an average of 50 hours a month vetting compliance. In contrast, pre-vetted catalogs save up to three hours of review time per app.
The Bigger Picture
Despite these certifications, digital student tracking is still controversial. As we previously reported, digital tracking tools raise serious surveillance concerns. In places like Philadelphia, schools use digital hall passes to log exactly when students leave their classrooms and where they go. While administrators use these tools to prevent hallway conflicts, privacy advocates warn of over-surveillance.
For instance, a federal lawsuit filed against the Beaverton School District in Oregon, outlined by LegalClarity, alleges that digital tracking data from the Synergy Education Platform was used to push students into counseling without parental consent. A report from the Brookings Institution highlights that federal laws like FERPA do not mandate "data minimization." This means schools and vendors can theoretically store student movement data indefinitely.
These risks are amplified by cyberattacks. According to a K-12 cybersecurity procurement guide by Career Clutch, schools experience an average of five cyber incidents per week. This is illustrated by breaches like the PowerSchool hack, which exposed records for millions of students.
Because of these dangers, a generic certification is only a starting point. Legal experts at Promise Legal note that districts must still negotiate independent Data Protection Addenda (DPAs) to comply with local laws and maintain direct control over student records. As parents manage these complex legal realities, understanding the limits of federal law is essential. In fact, as we noted in previous coverage, federal courts have repeatedly ruled that parents do not have the automatic right to sue edtech companies directly over FERPA violations.
What This Means for Families
This development shows that the educational technology industry is trying to police itself, but parents and educators must remain vigilant. A privacy certification proves that a company has safe policies on paper, but it does not change how much of a student's daily life is digitized and tracked. When schools adopt platforms like Minga, they collect data on student movement and behavior. They also log disciplinary actions. Parents must ask how long this data is kept and who has access to it.
What You Can Do
- Ask your school board if they have a signed Data Protection Addendum (DPA) with Minga and other software vendors to ensure the district maintains direct control over student data.
- Find out how long your child's digital hall pass logs and behavioral records are stored before they are permanently deleted.
- Review your school district's annual FERPA notice and opt out of sharing directory information to limit how third-party vendors access your child's personal details.