The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is a piece of EU-wide legislation which will determine how people’s personal data is processed and kept safe, and the legal rights individuals have in relation to their own data.
‘Personal data’ means information that can identify a living individual.
The regulation will apply to all schools from 25 May 2018, and will apply even after the UK leaves the EU.
What does this mean for you and your child?
- The GDPR sets out the key principles that all personal data must be processed in line with.
- Data must be: processed lawfully, fairly and transparently; collected for specific, explicit and legitimate purposes; limited to what is necessary for the purposes for which it is processed; accurate and kept up to date; held securely; only retained for as long as is necessary for the reasons it was collected.
- There are also stronger rights for individuals regarding their own data. The individual’s rights include: to be informed about how their data is used, to have access to their data, to rectify incorrect information, to have their data erased, to restrict how their data is used, to move their data from one organisation to another, and to object to their data being used at all
What does this mean for North Town?
North Town already has strong data protection policies in place but these now all need to be updated in line with GDPR. The process of becoming fully GDPR compliant will be long because it affects all aspects of the school. We will post any relevant updated processes and policies to this page, so you have access to them. To start with we have posted the following which can be found below:
- Data Protection Policy
- Privacy Notice – Pupils and their Families
- Subject Access Requests – Policy and Procedures
- GDPR – Infographic Parents
Do I need to do anything?
- There is no urgent action required at the moment, as much of the data we hold now and will require in the future comes under the definition of “Public Task”. This means that there is a valid legal reason for us to have and to process this data.
- Please keep up to date with communications from us via the website above or via ParentMail as we update relevant processes and policies. For example in order to ensure we keep your data accurate and up to date, and to ensure it is managed securely, we are looking at rolling out a SIMS Parent App, more information to follow.
- Please return any forms we ask you to complete, promptly.
- Be patient as we balance the introduction of the new regulations; ensure we minimise the cost their introduction and whilst we make certain the regulations will not affect your child’s safety, or teaching and learning experience.
- Ask if you have any questions or concerns. Our Data Protection Officer is Amy Brittan of Somerset County Council who can be contacted on dposchools@somerset.gov.uk.
- In the meantime, I would highly recommend watching the video below, which will give you an insight into the new regulations and what they mean to you and to us – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ua_LzUJ_wu8&feature=youtu.be