Data warehouse

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Lawmakers created a statewide data tracking system via proviso in this year’s budget. The Governor vetoed it, but lawmakers could override the veto when they come back later this summer. Here’s what you need to know about this proposed data warehouse.

  • State government could gather data on anyone for any purpose.
  • The data warehouse would track children from preschool through employment using a “universal identification system”.
  • The data could include everything from grades and attendance records to job performance and feedback.
  • Lawmakers – and their staffers – would have direct access to your children’s information. Data could also be distributed to other state agencies as well as the federal government – and could even be sold to private companies and individuals.
  • All of this data could be cross-referenced with a healthcare data warehouse already in existence, overseen by the same people, and with the exact same permissions and privacy “protections”.
  • The data warehouse’s goal is to meet the needs of government planners and help them funnel students into the “correct” career paths.

For a more in-depth discussion of the data warehouse, click here.

Lawmakers will vote on this proviso (along with the rest of the Governor’s budget vetoes) later this summer. It will become law despite the Governor’s veto if it gets a two-thirds majority vote in both the House and the Senate.

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By South Carolina Policy Council

Since 1986 the South Carolina Policy Council Education Foundation has advocated innovative policy ideas that advance the principles of limited government and free enterprise. The Policy Council is the state’s meeting place for business leaders, policymakers, and academics – as well as engaged citizens – who want to see South Carolina become the most free state in the nation. For questions or comments on the articles on this website, please email Research Director Jamie Murguia.