FERPA Consent Procedure for webconference recording access
The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) provides procedures for web-conference recording access that include students' faces or names. The way these photos and videos can be accessed, stored, and shared have strict rules since they are a part of an "education record". This applies to any Google Hangouts Meet or Zoom Meeting recording(s) of any video or audio recordings of classroom lectures or presentations.
Consent
Written consent is needed before any recordings can be shown to a third party (any member not apart of the class section) when the recording includes students doing the following things. If consent is not obtained, the student(s) must the 'de-identified' from the recording. If this is not possible, then the recording cannot be released for public use.
Consent Requirements
- Students that are identifiable, asking questions, making presentations, or leading a class discussion (TA exempt).
- When a class is being streamed online that could be accessed by other parties, consent is needed from all students who may appear or be heard if it is possible for the student(s) to be identifiable.
- If any part of a student's work (papers/class assignments) is to be shown to outside parties, including through "shared screen" methods or displaying the work to others in the class, consent is needed from that student.
- UNCA Approved FERPA consent form
FERPA Consent Guidance
(1) The course instructor determines if recording is necessary to support student absences, post-program knowledge transfer, use in other classes, etc...
(2) Faculty member notifies students that an upcoming class session will be recorded and the conditions under which it will be utilized:
- Viewed by current class members only
- Viewed by any current department or student at permission of instructor
- Viewed at discretion of instructor by any curricular audience in the future
(3) Students are to be notified prior to the start of the program their FERPA rights.
(4) Faculty member: obtains the consent/non-consent form from all students, retains all FERPA forms to be associated with the student's education record, and confirms the FERPA releases have been obtained prior to recording.
(5) Recording is stored and shared.
Email from Provost Campbell (March 5, 2020)
“Before recording any video that might include students, please ask for permission, or instruct students to opt out by disabling their camera before recording begins. This protocol should be followed even if you only imagine posting the recording internally. This does not apply to videos that you record that do not include students (i.e. videos of you alone).
You should also be aware of instances where you ask students to submit recorded materials to you. If you are accepting such materials and do not post, then you need not secure any other permissions, but if you intend to share or post such material, you must first secure permission. This is true even of what you might imagine to be an internal post (e.g. sharing on your Moodle site or Google Drive in such a way that other students have access).
Furthermore, I would ask that you remind other students to also not to post videos that include their classmates (e.g. to social media) without permission.
Finally, please be aware that students may now be in private spaces, and/or spaces that are not their own, but rather that of their parents, family members or friends. This may pose some challenges for some with regard to video. I would ask that you be sensitive to potential challenges in asking for video as part of participation and that you not discuss what you may see in the backgrounds of your students' spaces. Similarly, please try to be aware of the things that you may be sharing inadvertently in any videos that you share, being mindful to maintain appropriate boundaries.”
Additional Resources
Rice University FERPA Lecture Capture FAQ's
FERPA Classroom Recordings and Media Release Consent Form
Resources for assistance or followup questions and concerns.
Contact UNC Asheville's Information Technology IT Service Desk for assistance in implementing the above described services and support. Email: itservicedesk@unca.edu or by calling 828.251.6445
Contact UNC Asheville's Center for Teaching and Learning unit for pedagogy and teaching strategies regarding this knowledge base article. Email: ins_tech@unca.edu. or by calling 828.251.6540
Use the Zoom Video Communication system knowledge base for Zoom meeting specific support questions or concerns. www.zoom.us/support