Data protection, cybersecurity, and safeguarding for international schools

We all share responsibility for managing data, knowingly or unknowingly, personally, and professionally. In international schools, data protection and cybersecurity are increasingly important due to new legal obligations such as GDPR (Europe), LGDP (Brazil), CCPA (California), USA, Japan's Act on Protection of Personal Information, PDPB (India) and many more. Yet schools can struggle to understand what actions are required and how to comply.

We have developed our offering to support your school with a variety of resources.

Expert guidance

In partnership with 9ine, we address the challenges and strengthen our community’s professional expertise via workshops, articles, an assessment tool, and advice and guidance as you develop systems and policies in these critical areas of responsibility.

Workshops

We offer Data Protection, Cybersecurity & Safeguarding Workshops to help you navigate associated complexities and legal compliance, and to gain insight, guidance, and resources to support you in finding the right balance between child and data protection practices.

On demand webinars

Our members can watch these webinars in the CIS Community portal webinar library.

  • Complying with data protection principles and upholding privacy rights. Learn how schools and universities can ensure that their virtual learning platforms comply with key data protection principles set out in the European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and other equivalent privacy laws in Asia.
  • How to keep students safe. An overview for an overview of the key safeguarding considerations to keep in mind when implementing a virtual or remote learning programme. This includes policy review, training and education and monitoring and recording procedures. Also highlights links to leading resources and guidance.
Expert advice and guidance on the blog

Read latest thinking and guidance around data protection, cybersecurity and safeguarding on our blog.

Celebrating student pathways

How do schools celebrate all post-secondary pathways in ways that protect student mental health and well-being? It can be tough to balance celebrating student achievements while also protecting their data and plans and being mindful of those students who are yet to receive application outcomes or must make tough decisions. Here are some suggestions for schools.

Read more about How to celebrate different types of student success in their final school year
Student agency in safeguarding and online safety: Five key questions answered

‘Every generation's experience of youth is different. And ours is framed by social media.’ The quote is from a speech by a 14-year-old keynote speaker at a Childnet Safer Internet Day event in 2023. It makes it clear that young people have a unique experience to share. It's vital that we promote student agency and include their voices in our work to ensure they have the skills to navigate the online world safely, especially in the context of a rapidly changing tech world.

Read more about Student agency in safeguarding and online safety: Five key questions answered
Can schools transfer child protection data and information to a student’s new school?

Schools are expected to take particular care to protect student information as part of their child protection obligations. But what happens when a child moves to a new school? Schools can feel torn between safeguarding the student and protecting the student's sensitive information. We explore legal considerations and share practical tips. 

Read more about Can schools transfer child protection data and information to a student’s new school?
Protecting your school from cybersecurity threats

Tactics used by cybercriminals? The impact of cyberattacks on schools? As schools and universities have had to move teaching online in response to the Coronavirus, their reliance on IT systems has increased and a series of data protection and cybersecurity risks have emerged. Following a recent increase in cyberattacks on educational insitutions, here's an outline of steps you can take to mitigate threats.

Read more about Protecting your school from cybersecurity threats
Safeguarding implications for online learning

There's been a recent surge of online learning activity as schools and universities around the world look for solutions to continue their teaching, learning and student support while institutions close due to the outbreak of Covid-19/coronavirus. While this surge will help to protect the well-being of their students, these institutions now face the additional challenge of how to protect students while they learn virtually.

Read more about Safeguarding implications for online learning
Realities and solutions to promote online safety, navigate Edtech and protect data

On #SaferInternetDay (11 February) we join thousands of you in promoting the safe and responsible use of technology for young people. Where do you start when tackling such a broad and complex topic in an international school context? We called on our colleagues at Childnet International and 9ine Consultancy for information, guidance and resources.

Read more about Realities and solutions to promote online safety, navigate Edtech and protect data
Data protection

Data protection found its way onto my list of responsibilities, and it got there unexpectedly. Like many leaders, I began to pay closer attention in 2018 when a new law, the European General Data Protection Regulation, or GDPR as it is commonly known, was about to be  implemented. Initially, I wondered, just how much time are we going to have to devote to this?

Read more about An unexpected responsibility