EDDL 5151 Week 3 Activity 5: Your Institutional Privacy Policy

My Institutional Privacy Policy

Searching for the privacy legislation and policy of SD23 was very easy and transparent.

The search immediately provided a link to the FREEDOM OF INFORMATION AND PROTECTION OF PRIVACY’ section of the Policies and Procedures .

It reiterates that The Board of Education is a public body subject to the BC Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (FOIPPA) and the School Act.

The policy defines and summarizes  the following areas:

• Personal Information
• Employee Personal Information
• Student Personal Information
• Collection of Personal Information- this is where parents and students give informed consent during registration
• Use of Personal Information
• Disclosure of Personal Information
• Access to Personal Information
• Securing Personal Information
• Requirements Related to Student Privacy and Worker Health and Safety
• Investigation of Complaints

These policies have implications on my teaching if I want to use a photograph of a lesson or activity. I would need to ensure that the procedure outlined below had been followed:

• The parents/guardians of a student must authorize the disclosure of personal information for
  purposes ancillary to educational programs such as:
   newsletter publications;
   website postings;
   video conferencing;
   social media applications;
   honour roll lists;
   team rosters; or
   yearbooks.
• Parents/guardians will complete and submit the form entitled STUDENT REGISTRATION
  FORM – Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy upon their child’s initial enrollment.
  Where the parent or guardian provides consent, this will allow the school or the District to publish
  student personal information for purposes such as:
   recognition of achievement;
   promotion of events; or
   commemoration of school events.

In the UK, a student’s image was accidentally posted on the school website by a new teacher who had not checked the consent forms/ approval button on the register. Consequently the student’s Dad, who had a restraining , due to a previous kidnapping, managed to find their whereabouts. There were a lot of Child Protection Issues here. Seeing the horror that the student went through in the months following, not only cemented how important such policies are but also the need for them to be visible. Staff need frequent, gentle reminders  and certainty as part of new staff induction (which unfortunately this staff member did not receive) needs to be top of the agenda.