Dear NSCSD Families and Staff:
It has come to our attention that some students are using an app called Saturn on their phones and personal devices to organize their schedules and homework, and to connect with classmates. Although school-centric, the app is not affiliated with, or endorsed by the North Syracuse Central School District.
The app requires students to create accounts using their school email claiming it is for the purpose of ensuring students are connected with their fellow classmates. I bring this to your attention because of the potential privacy issues this creates. Once students agree to the app terms, they grant access to specific scheduling information including room number, teacher name, period of the day, and class name. The information collected is open to other users which creates an unintended social network that cannot be monitored.
Our biggest concern is a student being able to locate another student based on the shared schedules. At face value the intended benefit of connecting students is clear, but there is also the possibility to use this information to locate students for other unintended reasons.
We have reached out to the New York State Chief Privacy Officer to make them aware of this app and to seek guidance and support. At this time, there is no indication that this app has or will be used for anything other than its intended purpose, however, as a district we wanted to make parents aware of the Saturn app. We will continue to investigate the app and provide updates if necessary.
We are committed to protecting the privacy and security of data in accord with New York Education Law which guards the personally identifiable information of students, classroom teachers, and building principals. Please continue to talk to your students about their online safety. If you have any questions feel free to contact me at jclark@nscsd.org.
Sincerely,
Jason Clark
NSCSD Director of Technology/Data Protection Officer
