ST. PAUL — With more laptops, tablets and cellphones in classrooms and college campuses, Minnesota lawmakers unveiled a set of bills Wednesday meant to ensure students’ private information stays that way.

Joined by data privacy advocates, a trio of lawmakers vowed to introduce legislation this year to protect personal information on school-issued iPads and laptops, block third-party vendors from accessing school district troves and ensure students’ personal cellphones and social media accounts aren’t inappropriately searched. It’s part of a multi-state effort led by the American Civil Liberties Union to get outdated privacy laws in line with fast-moving technology.

Minnesota lawmakers have largely focused their own data privacy concerns on government surveillance — the Legislature struggled for three years to pass regulations on police use of automated license plate readers, and is still haggling over ground rules for body cameras and drones.

Rep. John Lesch said they’d continue to focus on law enforcement issues in 2016 and beyond, but the St. Paul Democrat stressed that laws protecting students were in clear need of an update.

“It’s the Wild West right now for data collection,” he said.

The three also detailed how they want to fix an old law that allows police to seize old emails without a warrant and block companies from forcing employees to turn over access to social media accounts, but the emphasis was clearly on the classroom.

School districts increasingly pair every student with a laptop or tablet for coursework at home and in class, sparking concerns that the companies providing those devices can search through students’ Internet history or use personal information to target advertisements — practices that aren’t currently banned in state law.

“That’s kind of Big Brother-ish, don’t you think?” said Rep. Peggy Scott, R-Andover. “We want to protect people now before they’re damaged by personal information getting out into the wrong hands.”

The proposed legislation would require a parent’s permission to grant companies access to information on the school-issued devices.