HOUSE BILL No. 5999

 

November 8, 2012, Introduced by Rep. Opsommer and referred to the Committee on Education.

 

     A bill to require a student testing service to allow test

 

takers to opt out of certain requirements to submit a photograph or

 

likeness.

 

THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT:

 

     Sec. 1. This act shall be known and may be cited as the "test

 

taker privacy act".

 

     Sec. 2. As used in this act, "student testing service" means a

 

private entity in the business of administering or coordinating

 

standardized testing to assess the educational achievement, skills,

 

or aptitude of prospective students for use in applications for

 

admission to postsecondary educational institutions.

 

     Sec. 3. (1) If a student testing service that administers or

 

coordinates standardized testing in this state requires a test

 

taker to submit a photograph or likeness that the student testing


 

service intends to keep, copy, add to a database, or otherwise

 

retain in its records, it shall provide the test taker an

 

opportunity to opt out of that requirement. The student testing

 

service shall not charge additional fees, require alternative

 

testing times, require the provision of additional biometrics

 

beyond a signature, or otherwise discriminate against an applicant

 

for a test that the service administers or coordinates because the

 

applicant opts out of that requirement. A student testing service

 

shall not require a test taker to submit a photograph in advance of

 

testing.

 

     (2) Subsection (1) does not prohibit a student testing service

 

from doing any of the following:

 

     (a) Requiring a test taker to show photographic identification

 

at a test site for purposes of verifying the identity of the test

 

taker.

 

     (b) Requiring a test taker to sign a statement acknowledging

 

that he or she is not impersonating another individual, that any

 

photographic identification he or she has provided is not altered

 

and accurately identifies the test taker, and that he or she has

 

been advised that impersonation could result in criminal charges.

 

     (3) A student testing service that creates or helps to create

 

a test-taker database of information that it shares with high

 

school and college administrators shall submit a security plan to

 

the state department of education that describes in detail the

 

information that is included in the database, the persons or

 

entities the information is shared with, and the security protocols

 

in place to protect the database from unauthorized access or theft


 

of data. The student testing service shall promptly supply any

 

updates of the plan to the department of education.

 

     (4) A student testing service that creates a test-taker

 

database shall make a copy of its privacy policy available on the

 

internet and shall provide a written copy of its privacy policy to

 

each test taker at the time of testing.