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Equity in Civic Technology, Privacy & Data

CDT Joins Comments Urging FCC to Support Robust Cybersecurity for K-12 Institutions

The Center for Democracy & Technology (CDT) joined comments led by our education coalition partners, calling for the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to expand the cybersecurity services it supports through its E-Rate program. E-Rate currently provides critical funding to connect schools with broadband, but limits the use of these funds for schools’ cybersecurity. Even the fastest broadband connections are insufficient without ensuring those connections are secure and private, and a lack of security threatens to leave schools and students vulnerable to cyber threats and render those connections useless. We urge the FCC to expand its support for cybersecurity to ensure our schools can keep up with the constant evolution of today’s cyber threats. 

E-Rate support is critical, but K-12 cybersecurity is not the responsibility of solely the FCC; CDT has previously encouraged the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency and the U.S. Department of Education to coordinate their cybersecurity efforts, and for the FTC to proactively address lapses in robust cybersecurity by education technology vendors.

Read the full comments here.