What is GDPR?

Data Protection (GDPR) governs how information about living people (such as pupils, staff & Volunteers) is collected and used.

GDPR is about personal data.  This means data which relates to an individual who can be identified from that information.  It does not affect all the records the school holds because much of it will not contain personal data.

GDPR became law on 25 May 2018.  It has a number of changes from the previous Data Protection Act.  The main new feature of data protection under the GDPR is an accountability principle, meaning that the organisation does not only have to comply, but it has to be able to demonstrate that it complies.

What does GDPR mean for schools?

A great deal of the processing of personal data undertaken by schools will fall under a specific legal basis, ‘in the public interest’. As it is in the public interest to operate schools successfully, it will mean that specific consent will not be needed in the majority of cases in schools.

GDPR will ensure data is protected and will give individuals more control over their data, however this means schools will have greater accountability for the data:

• Under GDPR, consent must be explicitly given to anything that isn’t within the normal business of the school, especially if it involves a third party managing the data. Parents (or the pupil themselves depending on their age) must express consent for their child’s data to be used outside of the normal business of the school.
• Schools must appoint a Data Protection Officer and be able to prove that they are GDPR compliant.
• Schools must ensure that their third party suppliers who may process any of their data is GDPR compliant and must have legally binding contracts with any company that processes any personal data. These contracts must cover what data is being processed, who it is being processed by, who has access to it and how it is protected.
• It will be compulsory that all data breaches which are likely to have a detrimental effect on the data subject are reported to the ICO within 72 hours

The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) is the national regulator of data protection legislation.  If there is something that we, as a school are doing that is not quite as it should be a complaint can be made to the ICO.

N.B. the ICO website is a key place to find further information on GDPR.  Here is the link:

https://ico.org.uk/for-organisations/guide-to-the-general-data-protection-regulation-gdpr/

South Wonston Primary School is the data controller for all information gathered, processed and stored within school. Below is a Data Mapping Document which states what information we hold and the Record of Processes (RPA) we do with this information such as how we store it, who we share it with (if applicable) and what we use it for.

The School's Data Protection Officer is:

Mrs. Pippa Howe-Velazquez and can be contacted at p.howe-velazquez@southwonston.hants.sch.uk or 01962 881311.