Data protection, cybersecurity, and safeguarding for international schools

The prevalence of AI is accompanied by safeguarding concerns facing international schools around online harms. Online sexual extortion is one of these concerns. We’ve outlined seven key actions to prevent and respond to online sexual extortion yourself or when supporting those affected by it.

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.

How do international schools maintain high-quality records of safeguarding and behaviour concerns while protecting and upholding students’ right to privacy and secure data protection? The International Task Force on Child Protection invites international school colleagues to contribute to a survey on practice in this area.

‘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.

From cyberbullying to social networking to digital identity, Safer Internet Day each February aims to raise awareness of emerging online issues and current concerns.

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. 

With so much going on in our busy minds, busy lives, and even busier inboxes, it can be extremely easy to miss small but important details like authentic email addresses—and cybercriminals take great advantage of this. Here are some things to look out for.

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.

Are you confident Zoom is configured correctly and provides a safe and suitable remote learning experience for your staff and students? Here are some effective practices and things to consider when using Zoom for your virtual classrooms.

This is the second article in our series on how schools and universities can adapt to new learning environments, prepared in response to the many questions we have received from our members in recent weeks. 

Schools and universities are making extraordinary efforts to support their communities right now. This is the first in a series of articles to address challenges and the many questions we’ve received, explaining how to keep students safe and protect their well-being in new learning environments.

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.

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.

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?

Since GDPR became law in the EU with its long-reaching global tentacles, our online world has been flooded with pop-up windows. At their top, a small checkbox followed by lengthy text (or a link to it). How many of us quickly check the box to get the window to go away as soon as possible? Often, I wonder, “Does anyone actually read the text that follows below?”