On day 2 of Bett, Russell Prue, broadcaster of NetSupport Radio, had the pleasure of speaking to Tony Sheppard from GDPR in Schools and Al Kingsley (MD of NetSupport and Chair of Governors at a MAT), about what GDPR is and how it will affect schools.
Tony Sheppard explains: “When you look at the Data Protection Act, it’s over 10 years old and needs a bit of an update. And when you consider where we are now with the amount of teachers and student data moving around within schools; things need to change. There’s been an improvement on rights and that’s one of the things we have to remember: this is all about rights. You’ve got the right to erase, right to be forgotten, the need for transparency and sharing the information with staff, students and parents – including what happens with the data in schools. The compliancy bit, that’s the effort. It’s knowing what you’ve got, why you are using it and if you still need it. It’s all good practice that should be done anyway.”
In answer to Russell’s question of “Are we right to be concerned by this?”, Al explains: “Well, the legislation is there and we have an obligation to meet it. It’s an interesting position for NetSupport as a vendor, in terms of reviewing data maps of what our products use and take from schools. From a Trust perspective, lots of the elements of this is good practice that schools are already undertaking, but the most important thing missing for schools is clarity and information. As a vendor, we’ve created tools to provide support in data discovery (understanding where some of that digital data resides) and, working alongside GDPR in Schools, schools can now see the real journey in terms of tracking data right the way through and understanding what the steps are to be compliant.”
To listen to the full interview, click here.