Cambridge International

LF Online School aims to ensure that all personal data collected about staff, pupils, parents/carers, and other individuals is collected, stored, and processed in accordance with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the provisions of the Data Protection Act 2018 (DPA 2018) as set out in the Data Protection Bill. This policy applies to all personal data regardless of whether it is in paper or electronic format.

Legislation and Guidance

This policy meets the requirements of the GDPR and the DPA 2018. It is based on guidance published by the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) on the GDPR and the ICO’s code of practice for subject access requests. It also reflects the ICO’s code of practice for the use of personal information. Additionally, this policy complies with regulation 5 of the Education (Pupil Information) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2018, which gives parents the right of access to their child’s educational record.

This policy does not form part of a contract of employment; however, it is mandatory that all staff, partners, or contractors must read, understand, and comply with the content of this policy and must attend associated training relating to its content and operation. Failure to adhere to this policy is likely to be regarded as a serious disciplinary matter and will be dealt with under LF Online School’s a division under LF Group of Schools disciplinary rules and procedures.

Definitions

Personal data: Any information relating to an identified or identifiable individual. This may include the individual’s name (including initials), identification number, location data, and online identifier, such as a username. It may also include factors specific to the individual’s physical, physiological, genetic, mental, economic, cultural, or social identity.
Special categories of personal data: Personal data which is more sensitive and subsequently requires more protection, including information about an individual’s racial or ethnic origin, political opinions, religious or philosophical beliefs, trade union membership, genetics, biometrics (such as fingerprints, where used for identification purposes), health (physical or mental), sex life, or sexual orientation.
Processing: Anything done to personal data, such as collecting, recording, organizing, structuring, storing, adapting, altering, retrieving, using, disseminating, erasing, or destroying. Processing can be automated or manual.
Data subject: The identified or identifiable individual whose personal data is held or processed.
Data controller: A person or organization that determines the purposes and the means of processing personal data.
Data processor: A person or other body, other than an employee of the data controller, who processes personal data on behalf of the data controller.
Personal data breach: A breach of security leading to the accidental or unlawful destruction, loss, alteration, unauthorized disclosure of, or access to personal data.

The Data Controller

LF Online School processes personal data relating to parents, pupils, staff, and others, and is therefore a Data Controller. LF Online School is registered as a Data Controller with the ICO and will renew this registration annually or as otherwise legally required.

Roles and Responsibilities

Data Protection Officer (DPO): Emily Leask, Head of Innovation (emily@lfonlineschool.com)

The DPO is responsible for overseeing the implementation of this policy, monitoring our compliance with data protection law, and developing related policies and guidelines where applicable. They are also the first point of contact for individuals whose data LF Online School processes and for the ICO.

This policy applies to all staff employed by LF Online School and to external organizations or individuals working on behalf of LF Online School. All staff are responsible for:

Collecting, storing, and processing any personal data in accordance with this Policy
Informing LF Online School of any changes to their personal data, such as a change of address
Contacting the DPO in the following circumstances:
- With any questions about the operation of this policy, data protection law, retaining personal data, or keeping personal data secure
- If they have any concerns that this policy is not being followed, or if they are unsure whether they have a lawful basis to use personal data in a particular way
- If they need to rely on or capture consent, draft a privacy notice, deal with data protection rights invoked by an individual, or transfer personal data outside the UK, or if there has been a data breach
- Whenever they are engaging in a new activity that may affect the privacy rights of individuals
- If they need help with any contracts or sharing personal data with third parties

Data Protection Principles

The GDPR is based on data protection principles that LF Online School must comply with. The principles say that personal data must be:

Processed lawfully, fairly, and in a transparent manner
Collected for specified, explicit, and legitimate purposes
Adequate, relevant, and limited to what is necessary to fulfill the purposes for which it is processed
Accurate and, where necessary, kept up to date
Kept for no longer than is necessary for the purposes for which it is processed
Processed in a way that ensures it is appropriately secure

This policy sets out how LF Online School aims to comply with these principles.

Collecting Personal Data

Lawful, Fair, and Transparent Processing

LF Online School will only process personal data where we have one of six ‘lawful bases’ (legal reasons) to do so under data protection law:

The data needs to be processed so that LF Online School can fulfill a contract with the individual, or the individual has asked LF Online School to take specific steps before entering into a contract
The data needs to be processed so that LF Online School can comply with a legal obligation
The data needs to be processed to ensure the vital interests of the individual, e.g., to protect someone’s life
The data needs to be processed so that LF Online School can perform a task in the public interest and carry out its official functions
The data needs to be processed for the legitimate interests of LF Online School or a third party (provided the individual’s rights and freedoms are not overridden)
The individual (or their parent/carer when appropriate in the case of a pupil) has freely given clear consent

For special categories of personal data, we will also meet one of the special category conditions for processing which are set out in the GDPR and Data Protection Act 2018.

Whenever we first collect personal data directly from individuals, we will provide them with the relevant information required by data protection law.

Privacy Notices

Before collecting or processing personal data directly from a data subject, LF Online School will ensure that an appropriate privacy notice has been issued to the data subject.

Different notices are used for employment and commercial purposes. The content of the privacy notice must provide accurate, transparent, and unambiguous details of the lawful and fair reason for why we are processing the data. It must also explain how, when, and for how long we propose to process the data subject's personal information.

LF Online School will include information about the data subjects’ rights and, most importantly, explain how we will keep the information secure and protected against unauthorized use.

Where LF Online School must collect data indirectly from a third party or a public source (i.e., electoral register), a privacy notice will be issued to the data subject within a reasonable period of obtaining the personal data, no later than one month. If the data is used to communicate with the individual, at the latest, when the first communication takes place; or if disclosure to someone else is envisaged, at the latest, when the data is disclosed.

Data collected indirectly can only be used if there is sufficient evidence that it has been collected in accordance with the GDPR principles.

In all circumstances, only the up-to-date version of LF Online School’s privacy notice should be used, and it can only be used in accordance with LF Online School’s guidelines.

Limitation, Minimisation, and Accuracy

LF Online School will only collect personal data for specified, explicit, and legitimate reasons. We will explain these reasons to the individuals when we first collect their data.

If we want to use personal data for reasons other than those given when we first obtained it, we will inform the individuals concerned before we do so and seek consent where necessary.

Staff must only process personal data where it is necessary to do their jobs. When staff no longer need the personal data they hold, they must ensure it is deleted or anonymized.

Keeping Data Confidential and Secure

Personal data must be kept confidential and secure and only processed by authorized personnel. To achieve this, LF Online School will follow these steps:

LF Online School has in place appropriate technical and organizational measures to protect against unauthorized or unlawful processing of personal data and against accidental loss or destruction of, or damage to, data. These procedures must always be adhered to and not overridden or ignored.
Where LF Online School provides you with code words or passwords to be used before releasing personal information, for example by telephone, these must strictly follow LF Online School’s requirements.
Only transmit personal information between locations by fax or email if a secure network is in place, for example, a confidential fax machine or encryption is used for email.
Ensure that any personal data which is held is kept securely, either in a locked filing cabinet or, if it is computerized, it is password protected so that it is protected from unintended destruction or change and is not seen by unauthorized persons.
Do not access another employee’s records without authority as this will be treated as gross misconduct and it is also a criminal offense.
Do not write down (in electronic or hard copy form) opinions or facts concerning a data subject which would be inappropriate to share with that data subject.
Do not remove personal information from the workplace with the intention of processing it elsewhere unless this is necessary to enable you to carry out your job duties and has been authorized by your line manager.
Ensure that when working on personal information as part of your job duties when away from your workplace and with the authorization of your line manager, you continue to observe the terms of this policy and the data protection legislation, in particular in matters of data security.
Ensure that hard copy personal information is disposed of securely, for example, cross-shredded.
Manual personnel files and data subject files are confidential and are stored in locked filing cabinets. Only authorized employees have access to these files. For a list of authorized employees, please contact the Head of Innovation. These will not be removed from their normal place of storage without good reason.
Data stored on memory sticks, discs, portable hard drives, or other removable storage media is kept in locked filing cabinets.
Data held on computers are stored confidentially by means of password protection, encryption, or coding.

Transferring Data to Another Country

Transfer of personal data to countries or organizations outside of the EEA should only take place if appropriate measures are in place to protect the security of that data.

We do not generally have a need to transfer data outside of the European Economic Area (EEA). However, if required to transfer personal data to a country or organization outside of the EEA, LF Online School must not transfer personal data to a country or organization unless that country or organization ensures an adequate level of protection in relation to the processing of personal data and safeguards are in place to ensure this is done. Employees should consult with the DPO before transferring any data outside the EEA.

The Data Subject's Rights

The data subject must be permitted to exercise their rights in relation to their personal data. Under the GDPR, subject to certain legal limitations, data subjects have the right to:

Access the personal data we hold about them
Request corrections to be made to data
Request erasure of data
Object to the processing of data
Request that processing restrictions be put in place
Request a transfer of personal data
Object to automated decision-making
Be notified of a data security breach

Data Subject Request Procedure

Individuals have a right to make a subject access request to gain access to personal information that LF Online School holds about them. This includes:

Confirmation that their personal data is being processed
Access to a copy of the data
The purposes of the data processing
The categories of personal data concerned
With whom the data has been or will be shared
How long the data will be stored for or, if this isn’t possible, the criteria used to determine this period
The source of the data, if not the individual
Whether any automated decision-making is being applied to their data and what the significance and consequences of this might be for the individual

Subject Access Requests should include the following:

Name of individual
Correspondence address
Contact number and email address
Details of the information requested

If a staff member receives a subject access request, they must immediately forward it to the DPO.

Children and Subject Access Requests

Personal data about a child belongs to that child and not the child’s parents or carers. For a parent or carer to make a subject access request with respect to their child, the child must either be unable to understand their rights and the implications of a subject access request or have given their consent.

Junior School: Children below the age of 12 are generally not considered to be sufficiently mature enough to understand their rights and the implications of a subject access request. Therefore, most subject access requests from parents or carers of pupils at our Junior School may be granted without the express permission of the pupil. This is not a rule, and a pupil's ability to understand their rights will always be judged on a case-by-case basis.

Secondary School: Children aged 12 and above are generally regarded as being sufficiently mature enough to understand their rights and the implications of a subject access request. Therefore, most subject access requests from parents or carers of pupils at our Secondary School may not be granted without the express permission of the pupil. This is not a rule, and a pupil's ability to understand their rights will always be judged on a case-by-case basis.

Responding to Subject Access Requests

When responding to requests, we:

Will request the individual to provide two forms of identification
May contact the individual via telephone to confirm the request was made
Will respond within one month of receipt of the request
Will provide the information free of charge
May tell the individual we will comply within three months of receipt of the request, where a request is complex or numerous. We will inform the individual of this within one month and explain why the extension is necessary.

LF Online School will not disclose information if it:

Might cause serious harm to the physical or mental health of the pupil or another individual
Would reveal that the child is at risk of abuse, where the disclosure of that information would not be in the child’s best interests
Is contained in adoption or parental order records
Is given to a court in proceedings concerning the child

If the request is unfounded or excessive, we may refuse to act on it, or charge a reasonable fee which recognizes administrative costs. A request will be deemed to be unfounded or excessive if it is repetitive or asks for further copies of the same information. When we refuse a request, we will tell the individual why and tell them they have the right to complain to the ICO.

Other Data Protection Rights of the Individual

In addition to the right to make a subject access request and to receive information when we are collecting their data about how we use and process it, individuals also have the right to:

Withdraw their consent to processing at any time
Ask us to rectify, erase, or restrict processing of their personal data or object to the processing of it (in certain circumstances)
Prevent use of their personal data for direct marketing
Challenge processing which has been justified on the basis of public interest
Request a copy of agreements under which their personal data is transferred outside of the United Kingdom
Object to decisions based solely on automated decision-making or profiling (decisions taken with no human involvement, that might negatively affect them)
Prevent processing that is likely to cause damage or distress
Be notified of a data breach in certain circumstances
Make a complaint to the ICO
Ask for their personal data to be transferred to a third party in a structured, commonly used, and machine-readable format (in certain circumstances)

Individuals should submit any request to exercise these rights to the DPO. If staff receive such a request, they must immediately forward it to the DPO.

Parental Requests to See the Educational Record

Parents or those with parental responsibility have a legal right to free access to their child’s educational record (which includes most information about a pupil) within 15 school days of receipt of a written request.

Data Security and Storage of Records

LF Online School protects personal data and keeps it safe from unauthorized or unlawful access, alteration, processing, or disclosure, and against accidental or unlawful loss, destruction, or damage. In particular:

Portable electronic devices, such as laptops and hard drives that contain personal data, are kept secure using appropriate password management, encryption, firewalls, and lockdown procedures
Passwords that are required to be changed on a regular basis are used to access school computers, laptops, and other electronic devices
Encryption software is used to protect all portable devices and removable media, such as laptops and USB devices
Where we need to share personal data with a third party, we carry out due diligence and take reasonable steps to ensure it is stored securely and adequately protected

Disposal of Records

Personal data that is no longer needed will be disposed of securely. Personal data that has become inaccurate or out of date will also be disposed of securely, where we cannot or do not need to rectify or update it. For example, we will shred or incinerate paper-based records and overwrite or delete electronic files. We may also use a third party to safely dispose of records on LF Online School's behalf. If we do so, we will require the third party to provide sufficient guarantees that it complies with data protection law.

Categories of Information

LF Online School employees may be required to process personal data which falls into different categories, general personal data, and special categories of personal data. All data should be processed in accordance with the privacy notice and in a confidential manner at all times. However, where that data is classed as a special category, extra care should be taken to ensure the privacy and security of that data. This means that employees should maintain a high level of security and should only share this data with those who are also authorized to process that data.

In the context of employee relations, scenarios when you may be required to process special categories of information may arise for one or more of the following reasons:

Where it is needed in the public interest, for example, for equal opportunity monitoring and reporting
And any other reasons which we advise you of under a separate policy or notice
In order to comply with employment and other laws when processing and managing situations connected with absences arising in relation to sickness or family/dependant-related leave.

To ensure health and safety obligations and other employment-related obligations are met, you may be required to process information about the physical or mental health or disability status of an employee in order to assess their capability to perform a role. Employees may also be required to monitor and manage sickness absence, recommend appropriate workplace adjustments, and administer health-related benefits.

LF Online School may also require employees to process special categories of information in connection with customers and other third parties. There may also be circumstances where we ask employees to process this type of information in relation to assisting LF Online School with legal claims or to protect a data subject's interests (or someone else’s).

Employees may be asked to process information in relation to criminal convictions. This should be processed with the highest degree of confidentiality and in accordance with any data protection legislation and privacy notices that are in force in our business.

If you are unsure about how you should process general personal data or special categories of personal data, you must contact the DPO.

Exemptions

In limited circumstances, there are certain categories of personal data which are exempt from the GDPR regime. In an employment context, for example:

Confidential references that are given, but not those received by LF Online School from third parties. Only designated line managers can give references on behalf of LF Online School. Confidential references will not be provided unless LF Online School is sure this is the employee’s wish.
Management forecasts and management planning (including documents setting out management plans for an employee’s future development and progress).
Data which is required by law to be publicly available.
Documents subject to legal professional privilege.

Personal Data Breaches

LF Online School will make all reasonable endeavors to ensure that there are no personal data breaches. In the unlikely event of a suspected data breach, we will follow the procedure set out in Annex A. When appropriate, we will report the data breach to the ICO within 72 hours. Such breaches in a school context may include, but are not limited to:

Safeguarding information being made available to an unauthorized person
The theft of an LF Online School laptop containing non-encrypted personal data about a pupil
Unauthorized users being given access to a secure platform

Record Keeping

As we have fewer than 250 employees, we only need to document processing activities that are not occasional, or could result in a risk to the rights and freedoms of individuals, or involve the processing of special categories of data or criminal conviction and offense data.

Training

All staff are provided with data protection training as part of their induction process. Data protection will also form part of continuing professional development, where changes to legislation, guidance, or LF Online School processes make it necessary.

Sharing Personal Data

LF Online School will not normally share personal data with anyone else but may do so where:

There is an issue with a pupil or parent/carer that puts the safety of our staff at risk
We need to liaise with other agencies – we will seek consent as necessary before doing this
Our suppliers or contractors need data to enable us to provide services to our staff and pupils, for example, IT companies. When doing this, we will:
- Only appoint suppliers or contractors that can provide sufficient guarantees that they comply with data protection law
- Establish a data-sharing agreement with the supplier or contractor, either in the contract or as a standalone agreement, to ensure the fair and lawful processing of any personal data we share
- Only share data that the supplier or contractor needs to carry out their service, and information necessary to keep them safe while working with us

LF Online School will also share personal data with law enforcement and government bodies where we are legally required to do so, including for:

The prevention or detection of crime and/or fraud
The apprehension or prosecution of offenders
The assessment or collection of tax owed to HMRC
In connection with legal proceedings
Where the disclosure is required to satisfy our safeguarding obligations
Research and statistical purposes, as long as personal data is sufficiently anonymized, or consent has been provided

LF Online School may also share personal data with emergency services and local authorities, to help them respond to an emergency that affects any of our pupils or staff.

Direct Marketing

We are subject to specific rules under the GDPR in relation to marketing our services. Data subjects have the right to reject direct marketing, and we must ensure that data subjects are given this option at the first point of contact. When a data subject exercises their right to reject marketing, we must desist immediately from sending further communications.

Complaints

If you believe that this policy has been breached by a colleague or to exercise all relevant rights, queries, or complaints, please in the first instance contact the Head of Innovation.

Changes to this Policy

LF Online School reserves the right to change this policy at any time, so please always check this document regularly to ensure you are following the correct procedures. The DPO is responsible for monitoring and reviewing this policy. This policy will be reviewed on an annual basis.

Annex A: Personal Data Breach Procedure

This procedure is based on guidance on personal data breaches produced by the ICO.

On finding or causing a breach, or potential breach, the staff member or data processor must immediately notify the DPO.
The DPO will investigate the report and determine whether a breach has occurred. To decide, the DPO will consider whether personal data has been accidentally or unlawfully:
- Lost, stolen, destroyed, or altered
- Disclosed or made available where it should not have been to unauthorized people
The DPO will alert the Executive Headteacher.
The DPO will make all reasonable efforts to contain and minimize the impact of the breach, assisted by relevant staff members or data processors where necessary. (Actions relevant to specific data types are set out at the end of this procedure)
The DPO will assess the potential consequences, based on how serious they are and how likely they are to happen.
The DPO will consider whether the breach must be reported to the ICO. This must be judged on a case-by-case basis. To decide, the DPO will consider whether the breach is likely to negatively affect people’s rights and freedoms and cause them any physical, material, or non-material damage (e.g., emotional distress), including through:
- Loss of control over their data, discrimination, identify theft or fraud, or financial loss
- Unauthorized reversal of pseudonymization (for example, key-coding); damage to reputation or loss of confidentiality
- Any other significant economic or social disadvantage to the individual(s) concerned
If it is likely that there will be a risk to people’s rights and freedoms, the DPO must notify the ICO.
The DPO will document the decision (either way) in case it is later challenged by the ICO or an individual affected by the breach. Documented decisions are stored by the DPO.
Where the ICO must be notified, the DPO will do this via the "report a breach" page of the ICO website within 72 hours.
- As required, the DPO will set out:
  - A description of the nature of the personal data breach including, where possible:
  - The categories and approximate number of individuals concerned
  - The categories and approximate number of personal data records concerned
  - The name and contact details of the DPO
  - A description of the likely consequences of the personal data breach
  - A description of the measures that have been or will be taken to deal with the breach and mitigate any possible adverse effects on the individual(s) concerned
- If all the above details are not yet known, the DPO will report as much as they can within 72 hours. The report will explain that there is a delay, the reasons why, and when the DPO expects to have further information. The DPO will submit the remaining information as soon as possible.
The DPO will also assess the risk to individuals, again based on the severity and likelihood of potential or actual impact. If the risk is high, the DPO will promptly inform, in writing, all individuals whose personal data has been breached. This notification will set out:
- The name and contact details of the DPO
- A description of the likely consequences of the personal data breach
- A description of the measures that have been or will be taken to deal with the data breach and mitigate any possible adverse effects on the individual(s) concerned
The DPO will notify any relevant third parties who can help mitigate the loss to individuals – for example, the police, insurers, banks, or credit card companies.
The DPO will document each breach, irrespective of whether it is reported to the ICO. For each breach, this record will include:
- Facts and cause or effects of action taken to contain it and ensure it does not happen again (such as establishing more robust processes or providing further training for individuals). Records of all breaches will be stored by the DPO.
The DPO and Executive Headteacher will meet to review what happened and how it can be stopped from happening again. This meeting will happen as soon as reasonably possible.
Actions to Minimize the Impact of Data Breaches
- LF Online School will take the actions set out below to mitigate the impact of different types of data breach, focusing especially on breaches involving particularly risky or sensitive information. LF Online School will review the effectiveness of these actions and amend them as necessary after any data breach.
- Sensitive Information Being Disclosed via Email (including safeguarding records)
- If special category data (sensitive information) is accidentally made available via email to unauthorized individuals, the sender must attempt to recall the email as soon as they become aware of the error.
- Members of staff who receive personal data sent in error must alert the sender and the DPO as soon as they become aware of the error.
- If the sender is unavailable or cannot recall the email for any reason, the DPO will take necessary measures to recall it.
- In any cases where the recall is unsuccessful, the DPO will contact the relevant unauthorized individuals who received the email, explain that the information was sent in error, and request that those individuals delete the information and do not share, publish, save, or replicate it in any way.
- The DPO will ensure we receive a written response from all the individuals who received the data, confirming that they have complied with this request.
- The DPO will carry out an internet search to check that the information has not been made public. If it has, we will contact the publisher/website owner or administrator to request that the information be removed from their website and deleted.
- Other types of breach could include:
  - A LF Online School laptop containing non-encrypted sensitive personal data being stolen or hacked.
  - LF Online School's cashless payment provider being “hacked” and parents’ financial details stolen.

LF Online School Data Protection Policy