Data protection and edtech: Watch the recording

In this session Phil Tompkins (Partner, Data Protection) and Graham Vials (Partner & Head of Education) looked at the issues arising from the use of edtech solutions in the classroom and in the school or college environment more generally. You can watch on demand below.

Edtech is an established part of the delivery of education in the UK and increasing numbers of products are coming to the market, helping schools and colleges to make the administrative and education processes more efficient.

Key takeaways

1. Get your procurement process right. Make sure you undertake due diligence on ed tech suppliers so that you have assurance about their data protection standards
2. Check the contract to make sure it is clear what the system/product will do with pupil/student data. Pay particular attention to any provision which indicates they will use your student data for their own purposes
3. Check that the system/product and the ed tech supplier supports good data governance practices. For example:
   • How long will data be retained for?
   • Does the system/product gather more data than is strictly necessary for the purpose for which it’s being used?
   • How does the system/product demonstrate that it uses a data protection by design and default approach?
4. Does the system/supplier provide good documentation which explains what data is being gathered, why and how it is protected?  Is this produced in an age-appropriate way so that pupils and students in the target age range can understand how their data is used?

We would recommend you put aside some time to take a look at the ICO’s report on Ed Tech: Ed Tech Examined. It goes through these issues and more and provides useful case studies so you can understand what good practice looks like.

Watch the recording