Schools storing and protecting your information
What obligations do schools have to protect student information?
Privacy Act 1993,
Schools must use reasonable safeguards to prevent students’ information being lost, being misused, or being accessed or given out when this isn’t authorised. For instance, a teacher shouldn’t leave a student’s private information lying on the teacher’s desk while the teacher isn’t there so that students or other school staff could see it.
What happens to information about a student who has left the school?
Privacy Act 1993,
Public Record
Schools shouldn’t keep student information that they no longer need. There are, however, legitimate reasons for holding on to some information – for example, state schools are legally required to keep some school records for archival purposes.
If a school wants to keep student information so that that they can provide references and maintain a record of ex-students, they need to get the former student’s permission.