Opinion: Data privacy now begins at the school gate

Today is international data privacy day. Many of us associate data privacy with Gsoc and journalists' phone calls or Edward Snowden but data privacy is an important issue for all of us and our children.

The explosion of social media means parents now have a role to play in their children’s education that they may never have previously foreseen, a role that I like to call, at least during the primary school years, Data Protector. While the Data Protection Acts give individuals the right to control who has access to their personal data and what use of is made of it, until that individual is capable of giving informed consent, this role is usually carried out by a parent or guardian. And while lots of parents are happy to share photos and updates about their children online, the point at which a child’s data moves into the hands of a third party for the first time is usually at the school gates.

As schools take to Facebook and Twitter to advertise their services, publicise their achievements and communicate with their students and parents, the more personal data of the students may end up online. While most schools act responsibly in obtaining parental consent for the use of photographs online, not all do.Parents in their role as Data Protector should be engaging with schools to find out what data is being collected, what will it be used for, who will have access to it and what is the policy for recording school plays/concerts etc?

Obviously children don't think of these things as an issue and are happy to pose for a photo or be filmed at the school sports day so it is up to parents to consider these matters on their behalf. A friend recently told me that she attended a Christmas concert at her young son's junior school and most parents were watching the concert through their tablets or mobile phones recording the events. Unusually my friend does not have any social media accounts but met several people over the next few days who told her they had seen her son in the school concert and that he did a great job singing 'Santa Claus is Coming to Town'. And while she was happy to accept the compliments, she did worry about the reach of social media and the risk of the footage falling into sinister hands.

When I asked her did she sign any consent forms for filming at school or did the school have a policy on it, she replied that she didn’t know and when signing her son up didn’t think to ask. Whether parents agree with sharing their child’s personal data online or not, the fundamental thing is for them to be informed and make a conscious decision.

When children enter secondary school the role of Data Protector for parents evolves into that of Data Educator. Children, as they enter their teenage years, and sometimes before then, establish their presence online whether via Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or Snapchat. This is the point where parents should be talking to their children about their personal data and the need to be careful about what they post online. From the very obvious; don't tag our house as your location and later post the fact that we will be holidays for the next two weeks, to the more sensitive conversations about being extremely careful about who you connect with online and what you tell them about yourself. We have all heard the terrible stories of children and teenagers being bullied online or worse still groomed and while nobody likes to think about these things it really is something that parents need to educate their children about.

By the time students enter third level education, the parent’s role as Data Protectors and Data Educators is pretty much over and these young adults are well and truly in charge of their own data, particularly online. The race is now on to, at least appear like, they having the best life ever. This creates another worry in the lives of our young data subjects #FOMO or fear of missing out.

This is the anxiety that some exciting event may currently be happening that you were not invited to, often brought on by posts or photos seen online. The truth is, at this point, personal data online becomes less fact and more for appearance, it’s all posted with the intention of creating a certain image. Suddenly every night out requires a selfie, every cool venue visited needs a check-in, every meal must be instagramed. As students graduate from university and start applying for their first full time jobs some employers seek access to a job applicant’s social media accounts. One student I talked to about this issue told me that when he interviewed with a US company, he was asked to log-in to all his social media accounts before the interview would proceed. Those who refused were politely told the interview was over. Should you find yourself in such a situation suddenly that video of you downing shots or that nasty tweet about a celebrity’s Oscar dress might not look so good to a future employer. Social media has become such a part of our daily lives that we may not always think that what we post now, or more importantly what people post about us, may have implications for our future. On international data privacy day, and every other day, the mantra should be think before you click. In a way online privacy has become the new currency and once you give it away it is very difficult to get it back.

Sinead MacBride is the college solicitor at Trinity College Dublin