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IMS Global Learning Consortium Announces Partnership with CatchOn to Bring Breakthrough App Data Privacy Vetting to School Districts

TrustEd Apps Program Helps District Leaders and Educators Make Informed Decisions on Digital Learning Products

 

LAKE MARY, Florida, 25 May 2021 — IMS Global Learning Consortium (IMS Global/IMS), the world-leading non-profit collaborative advancing edtech and learning impact, announced today that IMS Contributing Member CatchOn is the first preferred partner providing live TrustEd Apps data to school districts through the CatchOn platform.

The IMS TrustEd Apps program for student data privacy is a collaboratively developed process to proactively guide and support institutions and edtech suppliers in secure data use, collection, and sharing.

Through TrustEd Apps, IMS independently vets the policies of hundreds of edtech companies annually to determine their level of support for student data privacy. The rigorous app vetting process uses an easy-to-understand rubric designed and approved by IMS member organizations as an open standard. IMS provides support and training to help suppliers improve their data privacy policies and practices. Suppliers providing evidence that they meet the requirements earn IMS's Data Privacy certification. IMS also provides support and training to member school districts to become certified in the TrustEd Apps process.

Data Privacy certifications and vetting results appear in the IMS Product Directory at imscert.org.

As a TrustEd Apps Preferred Partner, CatchOn brings the IMS data privacy rubric results and regulatory compliance information directly to teachers and administrators through its platform.

Leveraging CatchOn’s data analytics, school districts can see the apps and online tools their students and teachers use on their school devices, both inside and outside the school building. To help districts simplify their privacy vetting process and further safeguard student data, CatchOn’s new privacy badging identification feature enables users to quickly see if an application currently holds the IMS TrustEd Apps Seal, including FERPA, COPPA, and GDPR compliance. This new privacy feature will also allow IMS member districts to access its IMS data privacy rubric results and regulatory compliance information.

"IMS developed TrustEd Apps to improve data privacy practices and transparency in educational technology," said Dr. Rob Abel, chief executive officer, IMS Global Learning Consortium. "CatchOn's TrustEd Apps preferred partnership means that school districts can better serve their teachers, parents, and students through easier access to student data privacy information backed by the ongoing collaboration among hundreds of school districts and suppliers in IMS."

“CatchOn is honored to be IMS Global Learning Consortium’s first preferred partner providing TrustEd Apps data to school districts through our data analytics platform,” said Monica Cougan, CatchOn’s Manager of Strategic Relationships and Initiatives. “With the exponential growth in the number of devices and digital tools being used to facilitate and support learning, ensuring students’ and staff members’ data is protected is critical. Through this partnership, CatchOn and IMS are providing districts an additional layer of security to their current compliance practices while simultaneously streamlining their data privacy management efforts.”

 
About IMS Global Learning Consortium
IMS Global Learning Consortium is a non-profit organization that advances technology to scale and improve educational participation and attainment affordably. IMS members are leading suppliers, higher education institutions, K-12 districts and schools, and government organizations that enable better teaching and learning by collaborating on interoperability and adoption initiatives. IMS sponsors the annual Learning Impact program to recognize the impact of innovative technology on educational access, affordability, and quality while developing the leadership and ideas to help shape the future of educational technology.

 

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