Good Morning,

We currently have an inclusive consent that lists the scope of uses (including social media). Some parents cross out or make annotations so as to provide conditional consent (i.e. College website – YES, Social Media – NO), and we reflect that on our register.

That said, I am increasingly mindful of Meta’s machine learning capabilities, and how its offshore data centres conflict with the data residency safeguards we maintain for other student data. The question of informed consent has also been raised more than once, because you’re right: we’re likely more aware of the risks than parents may be.

It really is an evolving landscape. We are also looking to update both the consent process and what we publish on Meta ahead of the 2027 school year, but there are a few different mindsets at the table. From Meta-adverse and locking things down to ‘it’s the parent’s job to keep informed’ / ‘other schools are still doing it this way’ / ‘AI is wonderful’ / ‘trust Meta’s privacy policy’.

So I do really appreciate threads like this that help bring some context and real-world perspective to the table!

Happy Thursday,

Danielle