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Senate committee approves bill to bar political campaigns from harvesting student data in schools
Summary
The Georgia Senate Education Committee approved a substitute for Senate Bill 212 to prohibit political campaigns from soliciting or exporting personal information from K–12 students at school events under false pretenses; the bill clarifies exemptions for parents, nonprofits and events coordinated with school administration.
Senate Bill 212, sponsored on the floor by Senator Still, won committee approval after members debated language clarifying when political activity in schools crosses the line into unlawful data collection.
The measure, described by Senator Still as “protecting the information of minors in public schools,” would prohibit campaigns and candidates from using school events or false pretexts to collect or export personally identifiable information from K–12 students for political purposes. Supporters said the change responds to incidents in several large districts where campaign staff allegedly solicited data that never reached the Secretary of State’s registration system.
Supporters told the committee they found records showing campaigns entering schools under the guise of voter registration and exporting student information to campaign databases rather than completing official registration. Senator Still said the substitute includes language negotiated with Senate Democrats — notably lines 42–55 of the substitute — to preserve ordinary nonpolitical school participation (for example, a parent speaking at a school event).
Members asked for practical clarifications. Representative David Wilkerson asked whether a parent who is also a candidate would be barred from receiving a yearbook or speaking at career day; Senator Still replied that parental participation is protected if parents or participants have consented and the information was provided in a noncampaign context. He said in contrast: “If your campaign was soliciting that information, that's different.”
The substitute also retains allowances for nonprofits and properly organized voter-registration activities coordinated with school administrators and registered with the Secretary of State. Committee members pressed for details on how the bill would interact with directories such as yearbooks and with schools’ established consent processes; the sponsor said consent and documented invitations to appear at school events would distinguish ordinary participation from prohibited campaign data collection.
After questions and no registered public speakers for the item, a member moved to approve the LC 473473S substitute for Senate Bill 212; the motion received a second and the committee carried the bill on a voice vote. The transcript records a committee voice vote (ayes pronounced, “the ayes have it”) but does not provide a numerical roll call.
The committee approved the substitute and sent the bill forward for further consideration.
Votes at a glance: The committee approved Senate Bill 212 (LC 473473S) on a voice vote; numeric tallies were not specified in the transcript.
