Privacy Law Library

Data Accessibility, Transparency and Accountability Act

Tenn. DATA Act

Students · Biometric · Government records

Governs how Tennessee's education agencies and schools collect and share student data. It requires the Department of Education to publish a data inventory and adopt privacy and security policies, gives parents the right to inspect their children's education records, bars schools from collecting data on students' political affiliation, religion, voting history, or gun ownership, and requires written consent before collecting student biometric or physiological data such as facial-expression analysis, brain waves, or eye tracking.

Where
Tennessee
Citation
Tenn. Code Ann. §§ 49-1-701 to 49-1-707 (2014 Tenn. Pub. Acts ch. 905)
Status
In force
In force since
2014-07-01
Enforced by
Tennessee Department of Education and State Board of Education
People can sue
No
Penalties
No penalty provisions were identified in the reviewed sections.
Applies to
  • Tennessee Department of Education, state agencies, local education agencies (LEAs), public schools, and educational institutions collecting student data

Rights it gives people

  • Parents and guardians may inspect their children's education records; the department provides a model student records policy for LEAs.Tenn. Code Ann. § 49-1-704

Practices it requires

  • LEAs and schools may not collect individual student data on political affiliation, religion, voting history, or firearms ownership.Tenn. Code Ann. § 49-1-705
  • Obtain written consent from parents (or adult students) before collecting student biometric data or data on facial expressions, EEG brain waves, skin conductance, heart-rate variability, pulse, blood volume, posture, or eye tracking, unless state or federal law requires it.Tenn. Code Ann. § 49-1-706(a)
  • The Department of Education must publish a data inventory and dictionary of student data fields and adopt FERPA-compliant policies that restrict access to student data to listed authorized users and use only aggregate data in public reports.Tenn. Code Ann. § 49-1-703

Other duties

  • State agencies and schools may not accept grants or adopt assessments that require collecting such data without consent.Tenn. Code Ann. § 49-1-706(b)-(c)

Sources

Checked against these sources on 2026-09-25 by research agent (Claude), primary sources.

Unverified: Whether "educational institution" in § 49-1-706 reaches private schools was not determined. This law binds mainly public bodies and is included because it governs student biometric data collection.

Research reference, not legal advice.