Remote learning brings online privacy rights of students to the forefront

By: Mary Bradley

Since COVID-19 spread across the globe, students and teachers moved their lessons from their familiar, fun classrooms to the distant, disengaged internet.[1] At the height of school closures because of COVID-19, there were 192 country-wide closures.[2] These closures affected more than 1.5 billion students and 90.1% of total enrolled students.[3] COVID-19 had, and continues to have, disastrous and deadly effects on people’s lives, health, and stability.[4]

Like many adults who were required to work from home, many students had to shift their studies to remote learning, which poses its own set of unique challenges.[5] Some students not only need direct interaction with their teachers to progress in their studies but could be living in homes with drug or alcohol abuse, domestic violence, or have challenges accessing technology and connectivity.[6] While the United Kingdom’s Department of Education says its schools are well-prepared for remote learning with hundreds of thousands of laptops available for use, there are still concerns that UK students will be left behind if they do not receive their devices in time or have a proper strategy for engagement.[7] The wellbeing of students is of great concern and is clearly placed at risk in myriad ways.[8]

There is, however, a technological silver lining to these disruptions for schools, according to a study from the UK’s Edge Foundation.[9] First, the quick turnaround from in-person to remote learning has given teachers more experience and “digital confidence.”[10] Second, online learning can be a springboard and help countries build a national strategy to take advantage of the full potential of technology to enhance the learning experience.[11]

Online activity, whether related to remote learning or not, has skyrocketed overall because of the pandemic.[12] While data collection and digital contract tracing “can help limit the spread of the virus and aid in accelerating the recovery,” [13] a question remains: how this data being protected amid increased online activity and data collection? More specifically, how are children being protected as they spend more and more time online?[14]

In 2018, the United Kingdom implemented its Data Protection Act under the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”)[15] and the act controls how “personal information is used by organisations, businesses or the government.”[16] The act requires those using personal information to do so lawfully and transparently, among other requirements, and it affords stronger legal protection or more sensitive information such as race, ethnic background, genetics, biometrics, and health.[17] At the start of 2020 before COVID-19 was declared a global health emergency, British lawmakers sought, in a rather prophetic fashion, to increase privacy protections for children because of global concerns about online services exploiting children’s information and putting privacy at risk.[18]

These protections – dubbed the Age Appropriate Design Code – were implemented under the Data Protection Act.[19] The code sets fifteen standards and explains how the GDPR applies to children.[20] The code covers a broad range of internet services, including apps, websites, social media, messaging services, marketplaces, streaming services, online games, connected toys, and news and educational websites.[21] It came into force in September 2020 and organizations are required to conform to its requirements within a year.[22]

In addition to having companies, tech giants, and organizations adhering to the code, Ross Morrison McGill, dubbed the “most followed educator on social media in the UK,”[23] set forth several recommendations for schools to follow to when trying to protect privacy online when using videoconferencing platforms such as Zoom.[24] He suggests training staff to learn how to use Zoom features, obtaining parental consent, double checking safeguarding settings, and reminding students about online etiquette and expectations.[25] A proactive approach to remote learning and thorough communication of expectations can help schools avoid privacy issues.[26] In the United States, for example, parents are suing schools for invading the privacy rights of their children after schools have suspended the children for having toy or BB guns at home, but in the video frame.[27]

Ensuring students and educators are protected online is an important undercurrent to the increased use of technology because of COVID-19 and its related lockdowns. Students and parents should take comfort in knowing that UK laws require more stringent requirements to protect minors online, but there are steps students, educators, and parents can take. These protections can help students and educators adapt more seamlessly to remote education and lessen the number of various obstacles posed by the pandemic.

Photo by Compare Fibre on Unsplash

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[1] Edge Foundation, The Impact of Covid-19 on Education 18-19 (Dana Dabbous et al., eds., 2020).

[2] Id. at 19.

[3] Id.

[4] Impact of COVID-19 on people’s livelihoods, their health and our food systems, World Health Org. (Oct. 13, 2020), https://www.who.int/news/item/13-10-2020-impact-of-covid-19-on-people%27s-livelihoods-their-health-and-our-food-systems.

[5] Edge Foundation, supra note 1, at 20.

[6] Id. at 9, 17, 18.

[7] Peter Hille, COVID: Schools are in lockdown and e-learning is a struggle, Deutsche Welle (Jan. 6, 2021), https://www.dw.com/en/covid-germany-schools-lockdown-digitalization/a-56147857.

[8] See, e.g., Youki Terada, COVID-19’s Impact on Students’ Academic and Mental Well-Being, edutopia (June 23, 2020), https://www.edutopia.org/article/covid-19s-impact-students-academic-and-mental-well-being. In the United States, for example, research shows that the pandemic is likely to “undo months of academic gains, leaving many students behind.” Id. Further, the pandemic’s economic consequences disproportionately impact children of poverty and children of color. Id. Mental health is also a major concern for researchers because more children and adolescents may develop problems because of the crisis, isolation, and economic recession but do not have the resources now to help prevent problems from developing or becoming worse. Id.

[9] Edge Foundation, supra note 1, at 19.

[10] Id.

[11] Id.  

[12] Mark Beech, COVID-19 Pushes Up Internet Use 70% and Streaming More Than 12%, First Figures Reveal, Forbes (Mar. 25, 2020), https://www.forbes.com/sites/markbeech/2020/03/25/covid-19-pushes-up-internet-use-70-streaming-more-than-12-first-figures-reveal/?sh=45013a2c3104.

[13] Joint Statement on Data Protection and Privacy in the COVID-19 Response, World Health Org. (Nov. 19, 2020), https://www.who.int/news/item/19-11-2020-joint-statement-on-data-protection-and-privacy-in-the-covid-19-response. 

[14] Danny Hakim & Natasha Singer, New York Attorney General Looks Into Zoom’s Privacy Practices, N.Y. Times (Mar. 30, 2020), https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/30/technology/new-york-attorney-general-zoom-privacy.html (“As many school districts adopted Zoom to allow teachers to host live lessons with students, some children’s privacy experts and parents said they were particularly concerned about how children’s personal details might be used. Some districts have prohibited educators from using Zoom as a distance-learning platform.”); Natasha Singer, Britain Plans Vast Privacy Protections for Children, N.Y. Times (Jan. 21, 2020), https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/21/business/britain-children-privacy-protection-kids-online.html (discussing how the family of late British teenager Molly Russell blame images of self-harm on Instagram for influencing Molly’s suicide and calling for online services to put the best interests of children first) [hereinafter Britain Privacy Protections].

[15] General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), GDPR.EU, https://gdpr.eu/tag/gdpr/ (last visited Jan. 31, 2020) (“The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is the toughest privacy and security law in the world. Though it was drafted and passed by the European Union (EU), it imposes obligations onto organizations anywhere, so long as they target or collect data related to people in the EU. The regulation was put into effect on May 25, 2018. The GDPR will levy harsh fines against those who violate its privacy and security standards, with penalties reaching into the tens of millions of euros.”).

[16] Data protection, GOV.UK, https://www.gov.uk/data-protection/ (last visited Jan. 31, 2021).

[17] Id.

[18] Britain Privacy Protections, supra note 14.

[19] Anne Todd, The ICO’s Age Appropriate Design Code Comes of Age, Macfarlanes (Sept. 1, 2020), https://www.macfarlanes.com/what-we-think/in-depth/2020/the-ico-s-age-appropriate-design-code-comes-of-age.

[20] Id. The standards are: the best interest of the child; data protection impact assessment; age appropriate application; transparency; detrimental use of data; policies and community standards; default settings; data minimalization; data sharing; geolocation; parental controls; profiling; nudge techniques; connected toys and devices; and online tools. Id.

[21] Id.

[22] Elizabeth Denham, Age appropriate design: a code of practice for online services, Info. Comm’r’s Off., https://ico.org.uk/for-organisations/guide-to-data-protection/key-data-protection-themes/age-appropriate-design-a-code-of-practice-for-online-services/ (last visited Jan. 31, 2021).

[23] Meet Ross Morrison McGill, @TeacherToolkit, https://www.teachertoolkit.co.uk/ross-morrison-mcgill/ (last visited Jan. 31, 2021).

[24] Safeguarding Pupils: Teaching Pupils Using Zoom Video, @TeacherToolkit, https://www.teachertoolkit.co.uk/2020/03/29/zoom-safeguarding/ (last visited Jan. 31, 2021).

[25] Id.

[26] Anisha Reddy, Covid school closings raise privacy concerns for students and teachers, NBC News (Nov. 18, 2020, 4:34 PM), https://www.nbcnews.com/think/opinion/covid-school-closings-raise-privacy-concerns-students-teachers-ncna1247717.

[27] Id.