ICO has stated that all children should be taught the importance of privacy while they’re in mainstream education

by Katy Murcutt - Paralegal

18 July 2011, filed under Consumer

Students should be taught the importance of privacy and information rights while they’re at school, the UK’s data protection watchdog has stated.

The ICO (Information Commissioner’s Office) has claimed that it is highly important for pupils to be taught about data privacy and FOI (Freedom of Information) rights, and that both of these should be implemented in the formal education process.

The ICO is responsible for making sure companies adhere to the UK data protection laws, The FOI laws and regulations on privacy and electronic communications. It has stated that it is essential that all students are taught about privacy after discovering the information on research into the use of social networks by pupils.

A survey was carried out of over 4,000 youngsters and the results have showed that a staggering 88% of secondary school pupils and 39% of primary school students have a profile on a social networking site such as Facebook or Myspace, the ICO have stated. Most of these people had not read the privacy policies on these sites, and approximately a third didn’t even know what one was, almost a quarter admitted to not even knowing where to locate the information it stated.

The ICO has also stated that all kids should be heavily encouraged to use the vast amount of public data which is available.
The FCOI ( Freedom of Information Act) had come into affect in the first week of January 2005, enabling people to have the right to locate the data which the Government departments and the public bodies hold.

The ICO has also stated that they are interested in finding a research partner to help create a new project which should, in the long term, make essential recommendations on how information and privacy rights can be implemented to the system for education.

If you run a business and are unsure of what is reqired in regard to employees and privacy, please see the guide in our Law Library to ensure you know where you stand.