Shocked to have been secretly recorded at work.

[Whataninvasionofprivacy]

I work as a TA in school, and last week at the end of a lesson, the teacher called me over and indicated (behind the kid’s backs) to the class cupboard. She then whispered “Will you turn off the iPad?” I wasn’t sure what she was on about, but she then whispered that she’d just recorded the entire lesson, but didn’t want the kids to know. She had been told to do this by a senior staff member.

Am I being ridiculous to feel annoyed by this? I’m sure I should have been told beforehand. Also what about parents who don’t normally consent, they had no choice in this case.

Absolutely not ok.

I’ve never signed something like this and there are parents like my friends who adopted children who were in witness protection and weren’t allowed to be out abywhere online or recorded by anyone for 5 years as per their social devices contract.

@Whataninvasionofprivacy do you and the teacher get along? I ask this because it’s perfectly normal to record lessons for observation etc but it is NOT normal for your teacher to not tell you first. I’d be telling the teacher to let me know when he/she intends to record in future.

In which case, there will already be something in place with the school to protect their safety, and if they can't be in lessons video'd for professional development, they won't be. Again, the videos of my lessons were only seen by the person doing my assessments, or by my classroom team who were already in the video's lesson. The parents of children in such danger will already have had discussions about whether they can be in videos with such a tight audience, and if they are, what happens to the video afterwards.

I suggest that you check with the school as to whether you signed anything on admission. I have never worked at a school where that was not done. At the beginning of every school year, I got the list that said which children in my new class had what permissions.

It isn’t any different to the multiple cctv cameras we have dotted around the school.

Arent you supposed to have signs up wherever there is cctv?

The way she asked you to turn off the iPad makes it seem like she assumed you knew it was being recorded? I could see it happening for training and quality reasons.
Did you ask her why she didn't tell you this was happening before the session? If it was top secret trying to catch you out she blew it by asking you to switch off the recording device!

I think this debate just demonstrates the lack of understanding around data protection law and how it works… because it is complex!

organisations day to day will be processing your data in a variety of ways. Some will have got your permission, others won’t because they have a different basis to use. In this case, consent for the recording may not be required in the school if a different lawful basis is being used. Consent is a lawful basis, but legitimate interest and public task may both apply in this case. Nonetheless, the school should set this out in their privacy notice and should have evaluated the lawful basis on which this is being done before doing it.

(covert surveillance, if that is what’s going on, has a different legal framework and requires a whole load more considerations).

I have often wondered why schools don’t all have a live feed recording from all class rooms so parents in real time can see if their kid is behaving like a little shit

Absolute car crash of an idea from a safeguarding perspective. So the paedo boyfriend/brother of any of the 30 parents in the class could be watching your child in another local home?!

And in an average school there are a couple of Mums dating men who are accessing child pornography. By which I mean, average sized primary school not even secondary.

@Tittat50 I feel so so uncomfortable about that. I have a big thing with just recording people without consent; the latest modern age boundary violation.

Contrary to popular belief, recording people without consent is not a crime, and it's certainly not unethical in many circumstances.

There are very clear issues with the scenario that OP is describing, but no one can simply declare that "people can't be recorded without consent" as a blanket statement. That's not a principle, and that's never been a principle.

Why? What you think they are going to do with it other than use it to improve teaching.

You can’t be recorded without your consent, pretty sure it breaks GDPR as well

The lawful basis as far as parents are concerned will very likely be the public task the school are carrying out.

You might want to read the thread

Iris (the company which provides the same means of making lesson videos) on parental permission and the use of and audience for the videos.

https://help.irisconnect.com/hc/en-gb/articles/4414403818769-Education-Information-for-Parents#:~:text=Schools%20typically%20request%20permission%20from,more%20about%20your%20local%20policies.

(Scroll up for the full page of information for parents)

More from iris on their website

The system being used is completely secure, GDPR compliant and encrypted in the same way as your online banking. The videos themselves may only be shared with education professionals approved
by the school and are visible to no one else. The videos recorded will only be used toi mprove teaching and will remain on the IRIS Connect secure servers.

Contrary to popular belief, recording people without consent is not a crime, and it's certainly not unethical in many circumstances.

Contrary to the belief of some poster, processing personal data can be a criminal offence under the Data Protection Act, and where no crime has been committed it can be subject to a financial penalty by the information commissioner.

What constitutes a crime and what is ethical aren't what I am considering in my post or in the point I make regards boundary violations.

This scenario OP presents goes against my own personal values and for me would be a huge boundary violation. Legally, I'm really not sure about this scenario but it does sound suspect.

The modern day approach to recording without consent is the other point I made. I think about kids being filmed crying in distress and posted on FB by their parents for the LOLs. I think about all these people unknowingly being live streamed on TikTok at various establishments. Just discovered this one to my horror.

The legalities and ethics of this may be debatable. For me, this and OPs example are huge personal boundary violations that more people should wake up to.

I'm certainly going to look more closely at recording consent forms for children in school after this thread.

Sounds illegal to me. Employer has the right to film you at work but first is legally obliged to make clear to all employees that surveillance will be in place. The employer must have an official written policy which must be avaiable for staff to read. Those filmed have the right to view footage of thnemselves and to know what happens to the footage and who else has access to it. The employer has a duty of care to protect your privacy and their activity must meet with the provisions of the Data Protection Act (1998) and the Protection of Freedoms Act (2012). If the employer is filming employees they have to register with the Information Commissioner's Office. A colleague with a hidden i-pad does not sound official to me.

Why are you banging on about IRIS? This isn’t IRIS. The op and the class were covertly videoed without consent on a hidden iPad. Jesus. What is wrong with teachers.

How can this company flogging recording software to schools possibly say it’s encrypted “in the same way as your online banking”. How on earth would they know this. Banks don’t necessarily all having exactly the same cyber security strategy and exactly the same tools. That would depend on lots of different factors.

I am a teacher, mother and grandparent and think you are absolutely right to be concerned about covert recordings being conducted for any reason without the full knowledge and written consent of anyone being recorded, including yourself and the children.

The NSPCC are very clear in their advice to schools that, “Children should always be consulted about the use of their photo or video and give consent to it being taken, used or shared. For young people under 16, you should also get parental consent before taking a photo or video…. It’s important to make sure children, young people, their parents and carers understand what they are agreeing to.

• Make them aware that a photo or video is being taken.
• Explain what the image is going to be used for, and how it could be used in the future.
• Ask for their consent to share the photo or video and record this on a written consent form.
• Tell them how long you will keep the photo or video for, why they are being kept for this length of time and what will happen once this period has expired.
• Explain how a child or parent can withdraw consent if they change their mind, and what you will do in response.“

By asking you to switch the iPad off, this teacher (and possibly her manager) is asking you to collude with an action the NSPCC specifically states schools should not do, whatever their reason. You have a duty to safeguard children that supersedes all other duties. In your position, I would contact your union and the NSPCC to ask for support and advice.

NSPCC: Photographing and filming children

I think you’re the only genuine teacher on here to be honest. Other so called teachers only seem interested in using ops issue to flog software 🤥

@MarkinUckfield You can’t be recorded without your consent

False.

That's so wrong on every level! Consent from staff and students should be asked. Even if it's to do with observing a particular child or member of staff this secrecy is surely spying.

This may be the case but you know about it, the staff here didn't.