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Our Commitment to Privacy

Education has taken a leap towards technology-enhanced learning environments. Educational Technologies (EdTech) are now integral to the learning process in Canadian schools. While they offer unprecedented opportunities for enriched education, they also raise important questions about student data privacy. In this context, understanding the critical aspects of data collection and sharing by these EdTech platforms is essential.

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Is It Trustworthy?

Understanding the trustworthiness of a platform involves evaluating the practices around data collection, storage, and sharing. With school boards increasingly integrating EdTech into their curriculum, it’s critical to ensure that these platforms handle student data with utmost integrity. Ensuring trust involves not only a comprehensive understanding of privacy policies but also proactive steps to mitigate potential risks.

While private companies often provide EdTech solutions, the risk involved in transferring sensitive student data into their custody cannot be overlooked. Therefore, it’s essential to have comprehensive contracts in place that ensure these companies adhere to stringent data handling practices. In addition, these contracts should explicitly state the terms for data access, usage, storage, and deletion.

As schools increasingly rely on cloud-based solutions, the storage and transmission of data over the internet become prevalent. While this provides flexibility and scalability, it also raises security concerns. Therefore, EdTech platforms should implement robust encryption practices for both data at rest and in transit. In addition, regular security audits are crucial to detect potential vulnerabilities and address them promptly.

Relying solely on vendor-provided self-assessments and unverifiable policies is not sufficient. It’s vital for school boards to engage certified security experts to conduct independent risk assessments. These assessments should scrutinize various aspects, including but not limited to, the platform’s privacy policy, data security measures, breach response protocols, and regulatory compliance.

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Your Role in Securing Student Data

Since 2016, we have witnessed a worrying increase in data breaches and misuse of student data. This poses significant risks to students’ privacy and can result in severe psychological and social consequences. Hence, adopting a service that scrutinizes the practices of EdTech vendors has become an essential need for Canadian school boards.

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