Put data-protection policies into education system, says UWI data-protection officer

WESTERN BUREAU:

Dr Patrick Anglin, the University of the West Indies’ (UWI) data-protection officer, is calling for data-protection policies to be implemented in Jamaica’s education system in order to streamline the use and security of sensitive information in schools.

Anglin made the recommendation while addressing the Sam Sharpe Teachers’ College’s (SSTC) annual Open Day function yesterday on the campus of the Granville, St James-based institution. The college is celebrating its 50th anniversary under the theme ‘Celebrating Excellence, Advancing the Legacy’.

“The attendance records of your students, your performance data, your students’ grades, and even your emails, all of this is personal information that must be protected,” said Anglin. “Have you ever been concerned about how your personal information is being used or misused? You are not alone, and that is why today’s discussion is so important.

“The Data Protection Act provides a framework to protect personal data, but laws alone are not enough. We must actively embed data protection into our education systems, and we must ensure that when we embed the data into our education systems, somebody measures it, and the persons who measure the quality assurance data are quality-protection officers,” added Anglin.

A quality-protection officer’s role is to ensure that the standards and policies of the organisation he or she represents are internally maintained and obeyed.

In further elaborating on the status of Jamaica’s data security, Anglin said more education on data protection is needed so that there is clear understanding by citizens and organisations about how to safeguard individuals’ sensitive information.

“Jamaica has made strides in integrating technology in education, including learning platforms like EduFocal, and many of us use these platforms. However, cybersecurity education is lacking because many persons do not understand how to protect digital information. Furthermore, institutions do not have sufficient policies to assist in fixing these problems,” said Anglin.

“Every organisation must put in place sufficient technical and organisational measures to ensure that the information they collect about you is properly protected. In the news earlier this week, we would have heard about some records that were left at an abandoned building by CISOCA [Centre for Investigation of Sexual Offences and Child Abuse] that would be a breach of the [Data Protection] Act,” added Anglin.

Anglin’s remarks came during this year’s international observation of Data Privacy Week, which is celebrated during the week of January 28 to commemorate the signing of Convention 108, the first legally binding international treaty on privacy and data protection.

The Ministry of Education had previously urged school principals to comply with the provisions under Jamaica’s Data Protection Act, which came into effect on December 1, 2023, after having been passed beforehand in 2020.

christopher.thomas@gleanerjm.com