This course, lawyers and data protection officers are also having a hard time getting back to school.

The Organic Law on the Protection of Personal Data and Guarantee of Digital Rights (the New LOPD) gives an additional twist to the obligations that schools, as well as sports federations, must fulfil when dealing with data on minors. Among others, the obligation to appoint a data protection officer and to communicate it to the Spanish Data Protection Agency (AEPD).

With the return to school, the psychosis of the need to comply with data protection regulations resurfaces and, faced with the doubt as to which data the school can or cannot use legitimately or as a legal obligation to fulfil its educational function, all kinds of circulars are sent to families and signatures are requested for all kinds of uses (just in case). Student registration and registration forms, new incorporation of teachers, transfer of files, etc. A pile of paperwork that is subject to review by the lawyer or data protection officer, which, moreover, must be managed and kept securely, both on paper and electronically. In addition, the signature of the father and mother is normally required in order to avoid that, in cases of separation or divorce, the lack of permission is used as a throwing weapon and that this can splash the school. And, all this without forgetting to have, when appropriate, the informed and express consent of the minor when he reaches the age of majority in terms of data protection (14 years).

Schools also go crazy with the use, on the Internet and social networks, of data, images or videos of students in educational or "extra-educational" activities carried out by their staff and, also, by those taken by the students themselves, parents or relatives at school events and shared in their domestic or family environment but whose dissemination may get out of control.

Teachers, professors and administrative staff face a variety of scenarios and do not always know how to act, especially with the increased use of educational platforms, cloud applications and new mobile electronic devices by both teachers and students.

In order to avoid the dripping of questions according to the casuistry of the centre at the beginning of the course, lawyers and data protection officers will have proposed a prior analysis, a manual and specific training for staff and students. But what if he didn't have the time?

The AEPD provides a Guide for Educational Centres and a Report on the use of cloud applications by teachers and students to facilitate compliance in terms of data protection, but they are not suitable for transfer to school staff as they are. It has recently published a very clear Infograph with some advice for the return to class but it is clearly insufficient to cover with the obligation of information, advice and training that is required of the data protection officer of the school within their functions and of the school as responsible.

To top it all, the New LOPD recognizes, with effect from December 2018, a new right to digital education with special emphasis on minors and students with special educational needs, but the educational Administrations (autonomous) are given 1 year to design a new plan of freely configurable subjects that, with the situation of political uncertainty, we do not know if it will be met, or not. And, even if the deadline is met, how can the lawyer and data protection officer of an educational centre ensure that this new right is fulfilled until new content is designed and publishers can produce suitable materials?

The AEPD together with other public institutions (such as the National Institute of Cybersecurity (INCIBE) or the Police) have been feeding a website for years with useful content for schools, teachers, parents and children, http://www.tudecideseninternet.es/agpd1/, but it has so much information that only to examine what is of interest in each case, design a suitable educational itinerary and with the content adjusted to the time available without losing effectiveness, may take a long time if you have to start from scratch.

If you are a lawyer or data protection officer of a school and you need punctual assistance for the return to the school, let me know that together we can deliver. I've done that before.

In addition, we count on Alejandro Gómez Parra for illustration purposes, whom I thank for lending his drawings for this illustrapost. I invite you to enter into: www.alexgomezart.com

Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator