What is the most unexpected unwelcome event
that can befall a school?
It is hard to imagine a school in which senior management know that the law is being broken and yet in which they turn a blind eye and continue to allow the offence to happen.
And yet, if you were to go onto Google and type in “School breaches data protection” you will find page after page of examples of schools that have suffered the fines, ignominy, and bad publicity that comes from being caught out.
No school ever deliberately breaks the Data Protection Act. Every school has a Data Protection policy in place. But it happens.
The worst of it is that most of the people who break the Act are actually trying to be helpful, for the most common cause of breaking the Act involves a member of staff transmitting sensitive data via email – perhaps to their home address so that they can once again continue working at home.
The data might be personal data including staff and pupil names, dates of birth, addresses, national insurance numbers, school marks, medical information, exam results, SEN assessments, and staff development reviews….
Sometimes they even transmit sensitive personal data which covers race, ethnicity, political opinions, religious beliefs, membership of trade unions, physical or mental health, sexuality… The difference between processing personal data and sensitive personal data is that there are greater legal restrictions on the latter.
The person who is responsible in such circumstances is the head teacher as it is the head who holds the role of Data Controller in a school. Equally, the Board of Governors are responsible for ensuring that the school has taken appropriate measures to ensure data confidentiality.
The fine for getting it wrong is up to £500,000 from the Information Commissioners Office.
And yet the solution is easy. You just need to ensure that if you are sending any information via email, or putting it on any transportable device, it is encrypted.
Emailsecurity supplies email encryption software to schools in the UK. There is nothing to be installed on individual machines, just some very simple changes to your email configuration, and typically takes less than 10 minutes to get you up and running. That’s it. You use your existing email address as normal.
The pricing model is also really simple and is payable annually.
| Up to 149 pupils (8 email addresses) | £ 199 |
| 149 to 299 pupils (15 email addresses) | £ 299 |
| 300 to 699 pupils (35 email addresses) | £ 399 |
| 700 to 1000 pupils (50 email addresses) | £ 799 |
| More than 1,000 | Please call for details |
There is no installation charge, no upfront fee, and no long term commitment. Please contact schools@emailsecurity.eu and we will be more than happy to work with you and your local IT support partner to get you up and running within 10 minutes. Alternatively please call Tel: +44 20 3598 4798
X509, Enniscorthy Enterprise & Technology Centre, Milehouse Road, Enniscorthy, Co. Wexford, Ireland www.emailsecurity.eu