Our team will reach out within 24 hours to gather your project requirements, clarify your business objectives, and outline the next steps in our collaboration.
Client
Girls Who Code is an international non-profit organization committed to increasing the number of women in computer science by equipping female students with the necessary skills. As of 2022, the organization had officially served 580,000 students, including 185,000 college-aged alumni.
DataArt has been partnering with Girls Who Code since 2019, delivering comprehensive solutions across various projects.
We helped develop the HQ web application for the client, enabling them to attract more students and teachers and effectively track their visits. We also conducted accessibility and penetration testing reviews that allowed the client to comply and provided DevOps services that kept the systems secure and up-to-date. Additionally, the DataArt team has been supporting the client’s Website and the Data Warehouse, implementing new features, and facilitating third-party systems integration.
Challenge
Girls Who Code operates in the highly regulated US market, collaborating with a wide range of education institutions. This collaboration requires the organization to collect and store students’ personal data; therefore, it must meet specific privacy regulations enforced by the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA). A 2022 audit by a third-party consultant revealed the need to reorganize their data management processes to ensure compliance and grow their business in the USA.
Solution
DataArt started the data privacy project in April 2023. A team of a data architect, data analyst, developers, and QA experts evaluated the client’s system and crafted a complex data transformation strategy.
The client stored sensitive user data across three separate systems: the HQ web application, Salesforce, and the Data Warehouse, all connected through multiple interdependencies. DataArt’s challenge was to extract children’s data from these systems and securely store it according to regulations while preserving the systems’ interdependencies and operational continuity and ensuring the data was not shared in unintended ways within the data infrastructure.
After evaluating all possible alternatives, DataArt experts chose data duplication as a safer option for migration. Using the backup restore functionality, the team replicated the users’ database and then deleted club students’ data from the duplicate database through MySQL scripts. The same approach was applied to non-student data, creating a separate database.
We worked on adjusting the users’ database and web application simultaneously while performing continuous QA testing to avoid disruptions and ensure complete process accuracy. Throughout the project, DataArt experts maintained clear communication with Girls Who Code stakeholders, ensuring full transparency and educating the client’s teams on best practices in their respective operations. After consulting with DataArt’s team, Girls Who Code created and implemented several new data storage policies to establish secure data management processes within the organization.
Results and Benefits
In September 2023, a new data flow was implemented, resulting in student data separation throughout all targeted systems. The deployment was seamless, ensuring uninterrupted operational functions and a smooth user experience.
Our efforts enabled the client to collaborate with additional school districts, expanding GWC’s access into broader segments of their target market that were previously inaccessible due to compliance regulations in the USA.
As a result, GWC signed nine originating DPAs with districts, states, or state wide alliances, which have led to over 100 unique subscribing DPAs with various LEAs within those states. The project's goal to remove barriers to school-based club growth succeeded through the implementation of our data privacy and security compliance measures.
DataArt and Girls Who Code collaboration exemplifies how a trusted partner in data and technology can drive business growth and agility by providing companies with a competitive edge in the market.
