The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) (20 U.S.C. § 1232g; 34 CFR Part 99) is a Federal law that protects the privacy of student education records.

Information meant to be stored within ProductionPro are not “education records” under FERPA. Education records, while defined broadly, generally include grades, test scores, special education records, disciplinary records, documentation of attendance and course schedules, and personal information, including student’s ID code, social security, picture, or other information that would make it easy to identify a student. ProductionPro collects information relative to the pre-production and performance of theatre/film productions; to the extent that ProductionPro collects student information, ProductionPro collects e-mail information and potentially names of student users, which is considered “directory information” under FERPA — information contained in the education records of a student that would generally not be considered harmful or an invasion of privacy if disclosed. ProductionPro does not share directory information with third parties. Furthermore, upon creation of their ProductionPro account, users receive a welcome email that includes an option to opt-out of future marketing communications.

In conclusion, as long as an educational agency or institution complies with its obligations relative to the disclosure of directory information under FERPA, ProductionPro can be used in an educational setting.