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.

I think it's totally illegal unless you are told.

Recording a class is standard practice for teachers engaging in reflective practice. As pp have said parents don't need to give permission because this footage is not shown or shared.

The TA should have been aware though.

As a parent I wouldn't care in the slightest.

As a TA I would check my contract to see whether I had agreed to anything along those lines and if not then I would speak to the head to say that in future I would like to be informed ahead of time. And confirm what happens with the recordings.

Standard practise. Recording is valuable cpd.

Not standard practice not to inform the TA though surely?
It just seems a professional courtesy to do so.

Weird, frankly. We have a list of kids we’re not allowed to photograph, some are because of their parents not wanting the other parent knowing where they are if there’s a court order, for example. I’d be very unhappy to have been recorded unknowingly.

One post and the OP does not return

Do people ever check time stamps on posts before rushing to demand OPs return? She posted her OP at 11:30pm last night, almost midnight. It's only 6:44am the next morning, she's probably getting ready for work now.

I'm a teacher -we have to be absolutely certain of which children are allowed to be photographed and which children aren't allowed to be. We would be in breach of GDPR if we got this wrong.

I've never filmed a lesson but don't see why this would be so shocking. I can see it would be a good way to improve your own teaching practice.

Ideally, the teacher could have told their TA beforehand.

Ideally she would have told you, but GDPR is irrelevant as the images aren't being shared.

As a parent I wouldn’t mind at all if the teacher filmed the class. I think if I was the TA, I would like to have known. Professional courtesy.

Parents will be horrified to learn that CCTV now covers pretty much all of a school site (bar the toilets) so their children are recorded most of the time they are not in lessons. Same as when they pop into a shop to buy a snack on the way home or as they pass houses with ring doorbells. The TA should have been consulted as professional courtesy but children being part of a surveillance society is now the norm.

Where was the camera pointing? We sometimes record our lessons and the camera is primarily aimed at the teacher to catch teacher delivery. This might be why she hasn’t told you as you might not even be in it. I would have told you in advance though. I do understand why people feel uneasy as it sounds creepy but it is on a school device and used purely for training purposes

Exactly this, you know there's cctv cameras in the public area of most hospitals, would you be happy there was one over your bed in the ward, that you hadn't been told about! Its the covert aspect that makes it wrong!

GDPR applies to anything from which personal data may be identified. It covers collecting, storing and sharing data. Anyone identifiable in the video or their parents should have given consent to being recorded.

I’ve also worked in a school that used this. Not all lessons are recorded, and it’s not secret - it’s quite obvious that the cameras are there. It’s no different to the CCTV in the school, parents didn’t complain about it. I wouldn’t like secret recording though, I’d wonder what was going on there. I doubt it’s monitoring the TA, as I doubt the teacher would then ask the TA to switch it off, but I still don’t think doing it in secret is a good idea.

It’s hardly a film crew standing in the classroom getting up close and personal shots of each child documentary style.

It’s a stationary ipad in a closet at best recording the teachers voice so their boss or mentor can review their teaching skills.

It’s no more covert than the CCTV that most schools have, or the many doorbell cameras, personal and council CCTV cameras you go about your lives not noticing everyday.

My guess is the teacher forgot to tell you OP, or was slightly embarrassed that they was having a review of there performance.

You need to check their privacy notice/policy op. It should be provided for on there and list the data collectors/processors they use along with the reason they are relying on (legitimate interests etc)

That doesn't make GDPR "irrelevant". Why do people who don't understand a topic even bother to make such sweeping and incorrect statements

"It’s no more covert than the CCTV that most schools have, or the many doorbell cameras, personal and council CCTV cameras you go about your lives not noticing everyday."

This was potentially the very definition of covert unless op has been made aware in their policy.

Cctv in schools and other public areas is usually clear to see and signage has to be displayed. And there isn't a reasonable expectation of privacy in a public area due to camera phones etc.

Ring doorbells or personal cctv in homes do not come under gdpr

TA should’ve been told.

In our school consent forms are collated and info shared with staff - there are different levels of consent ranging from all to nothing, depending on what the images etc are for (e.g. parent might say we can photo/film internally but not be shared externally such as school promo material).

I check it meticulously. Of the 250 children I teach currently, only two cannot be filmed at all. The others are all ok. I used to film performances for assessing later, strategically placing any pupils who were not to be caught on camera, however…

…there is so much push-back in society about being filmed now we just don’t bother. Assessment is done on the hoof as the kids are playing, it might not be as considered and is only reasonably accurate as we have to make very quick decisions on 32 kids within the time it takes to play whatever a couple of times, but at least no parent can moan.

It’s a shame as pupils used to enjoy watching themselves back on Google Classroom (secure, can only be watched by kids, not downloaded or shared) and only those actually IN the video were given access. Also, I’ve gone through 6 inspections in my career and only the first ones in the 90s did they bother to listen to recordings, so why waste the time?

Actually filming others or taking photographs is legally permissible under UK law in public places or places where privacy is not expected.This also includes children.

What you do with that information afterwards or the reason for obtaining the information is where the law comes in.

A video used for training purposes, that can only be accessed by the person recording it, and only shared with another professional for training purposes would be a legitimate reason.

she won’t

There is also something very different about recording with or without sound.

The ridiculing of people's concerns given the slow unfolding of information and general secrecy, I think is what irks me the most about this. Like paraents should just magically be aware, accepting and never entertain the thought that bad practice can and does happen, or consider how we safeguard against that.

I'm slightly more comfortable knowing recordings are destroyed after lessons, but I do still think children should be made aware when it is happening. Just as they would know when an observer is in the room.

Does this practice also happen in colleges and universities? Where do we draw the line?

Probably best you don’t ever let your kid out of the house again because there’s these things called CCTV cameras that film everyone all the time. They’re all the rage these days 🙄