NJSDS strictly adheres to privacy laws affecting individual student record data and employee data and is designed to meet or exceed all state and federal privacy laws and requirements. NJEEDS is sensitive to privacy and confidentiality concerns and has established policies and practices to protect the privacy and confidentiality of the data entrusted to the NJEEDS system.

The environments and databases housing the NJEEDS data are separated appropriately and structured to ensure security and compliance with the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA); National Institutes of Standards and Technology (NIST), including NIST publications 800-52, 800-53, 800-56, 800-57, and related Federal Information Security Management Act (FISMA) security guidelines (where applicable); and state requirements related to the storage of sensitive education data elements and any data shared by the New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development (NJLWD), including all Personally Identifiable Information (PII); relative to unemployment compensation data shared by NJLWD. NJSDS also requires compliance with Section 303(a)(1) of the Social Security Act (SSA), Sections 303(a)(7), (c)(1), (d), (e), (h) and (i) of the SSA, Section 3304(a)(16) of the Federal Unemployment Tax Act (FUTA), and 20 CFR Part 603. Such partitioned sections of NJSDS guarantee that data are in fact kept separate, empowering each state agency that provides data to maintain its individual agency governance and security protocols.

The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) (20 U.S.C. § 1232g; 34 CFR Part 99) protects the privacy of student education records maintained by or for educational agencies or institutions that receive funds from the U.S. Department of Education. Disclosure of personally identifiable information from education records will only be to a. audit or evaluate a Federal- or State-supported education program; or b. Enforce or comply with Federal legal requirements related to the program. FERPA generally bars disclosure of personally identifiable information from education records without written parent or eligible student consent unless the disclosure comes within a list of authorized disclosures in the law. The regulations are designed to foster more comprehensive use of individual data for educational research, evaluation, accountability, and improvement purposes, while enhancing privacy protections and enforcement. NJSDS will maintain the system consistent with federal and state laws as they relate to the management and handling of data, including confidential and Personally Identifiable Information as it is defined in FERPA.

Furthermore, the regulations issued pursuant to Section 303(a)(1) of the Social Security Act (SSA), Sections 303(a)(7), (c)(1), (d), (e), (h), and (i) of the SSA, Section 3304(a)(16) of the Federal Unemployment Tax Act (FUTA) and codified at 20 CFR Part 603 govern the Confidentiality and Disclosure of State Unemployment Compensation Information. NJSDS is responsible for complying with the provisions of 20 CFR Part 603 relative to its access to and use of State Unemployment Compensation Information in the NJSDS system.