At the Brodowin School in Berlin there are currently no lessons via video conference; Children who cannot attend school work with paper assignments. The teachers would like to use digital tools for this. But the previous practice at the school was apparently not in compliance with data protection regulations.

“We initially used Microsoft Teams in the teaching staff,” reports the headmistress Doreen Eccarius . She also experimented with Zoom and Jitsi, but the meetings were the most stable with teams. Due to the positive experience, the school then used teams to communicate with students and parents during the lockdown in spring. Mail addresses with pseudonyms were set up for the students: “We did not work with real names.”

The Berlin Brodowin School has committed, IT-savvy teachers and good hardware equipment . But digital lessons are currently only possible to a limited extent.

“All schools were free to choose which programs to use. Bit by bit, the Senate Administration came up with suggestions, some of which had not been checked by data protection,” says the head teacher of the first phase of distance learning. “We have a very dedicated staff. A colleague suggested Padlet to provide additional learning material for students.” The colleague sent parents a link to tasks in Padlet, a kind of digital pin board.

However, Eccarius admits that they failed to obtain written consent from their parents. In a training course it was stated that no parental consent is required as long as the students do not use individual padlet accounts.

Warning issued “I understand the needs of schools”, says Maja Smoltczyk, the Berlin commissioner for data protection and freedom of information. But when one of the parents reported the lack of a declaration of consent for the use of the padlet and also the use of teams at the school to their authorities, she had to take action. The result of the check was a warning.

“This is the gentlest means that the GDPR provides,” explains Smoltczyk in an interview with c’t. “At the beginning of the year we published information on learning platforms and shortly afterwards on video conferencing software with a traffic light rating.” Microsoft Teams received a red rating, according to the data protection officer. Even with a declaration of consent, Padlet cannot currently be used in accordance with data protection regulations. Almost regretfully, she adds: “There was no apology, we had to issue a warning.”

At the same time, Smoltczyk thinks it is wrong that the responsibility for the data protection compliant use of software lies with the schools. “This regulation comes from an analogous era. The legislature must finally get to the root of the problem and create contemporary structures that allow schools to concentrate on educational work.” Schools should no longer be burdened with the choice of data protection compliant work equipment.

“We have repeatedly offered the education administration our technical support,” said Smoltczyk. The Moodle variant “Lernraum Berlin” – the official learning platform of the federal state of Berlin – was initially developed without the participation of the Berlin data protection officers. “It wasn’t very easy to get there. But we have now looked at the Berlin learning space. It is not yet perfect and many things must certainly be monitored permanently, but we consider the use of this learning platform to be most justifiable.” Senate administration in duty “That we for the Padlet usage should have obtained a declaration of consent, we immediately saw. All Padlet content has been deleted again, “reports headmistress Eccarius. She knows from colleagues that other schools continue to work with teams. “We would have done that even if we hadn’t received a warning.” What if there is now a hard lockdown and the school closes? “That would be Stone Age again,” says Eccarius.

Switching to the Berlin study space will take time. “Our IT employee looks after five schools. At the moment he’s been in quarantine 14 days, so everything remains my responsibility . ” Both the headmistress and the Berlin data protection officer see the Senate administration as obliged to evaluate software for school use and to make a suitable pre-selection. “It is a huge oversight that the Senate Administration has not done more in the meantime,” says Smoltczyk. Your role is a supportive one: “We make things possible, not impossible. You can now see with the learning space in Berlin that cooperation can work well.”

c’t 1 / 2021 This article comes from c’t 1 / 2021. We advise you on the selection and setup of network storage for the home and test suitable NAS empty enclosures. In another focus, we shed light on the security of health insurance apps and card terminals and show how you can analyze Android apps for e-health yourself. Also explosive: A server error enabled hosters to steal their identity and Schufa wants to screen private accounts. We have tested keyboards for frequent writers, telephone systems for the home office and much more. c’t 1 / 2021 is now available in the Heise shop and at the well-stocked magazine kiosk.

(dwi)