Is I-Ready Selling Student Data? Fact-Checking the Legal Claims Against Curriculum Associates
By Alexander Ross
Q1: Does i-Ready sell children's personal information to advertisers?
Curriculum Associates explicitly denies selling any student data, and the lawsuit does not allege that personal identities were sold to direct marketing brokers. Instead, the legal claim argues that transmitting backend user metrics to third-party cloud and analytics services meets the broad statutory definitions of unauthorized data sharing and "sales" under California privacy laws.
Q2: Who filed the class-action lawsuit against Curriculum Associates?
The lawsuit was filed in California state and federal courts by public school parents whose children use i-Ready during daily coursework, including families from the San Diego school district. The plaintiffs are represented by privacy litigation firms seeking class-action status on behalf of affected California public school students.
Q3: Can parents opt their children out of i-Ready data collection?
Because i-Ready is typically adopted district-wide as part of mandatory core curricula or state-aligned diagnostic testing, opting out is difficult. Parents must submit formal requests through their local school board or district administration, as individual software accounts are provisioned and managed directly by the educational institution rather than individual households.
Q4: How does FERPA apply to digital learning tools like i-Ready?
FERPA allows public schools to share student education records with outside vendors without prior parental consent only under the "school official" exception. To qualify, the vendor must perform an institutional service the school would otherwise handle itself, remain under the direct control of the district regarding record maintenance, and use student records strictly for legitimate educational purposes.
Alexander Ross has covered the video game industry for a decade, writing deep dives on game design, esports tournaments, VR developments, and gaming culture.
