Urgent address disclosure - Is it a legal vs safety issue and is there a solution?

[Rupert1234]

I have a vulnerable 17 year old Autistic daughter in year 13 of a faith school.

She moved into a rented room some months ago with our reluctant approval and she visits us every few weeks for socializing, driving lessons etc. and she has her room and mail sent here and we (her mum and dad) are her immediate contacts.

She has been reluctant to share her address though, and as this was a concern for her safety, security and vulnerability resons, I obtained it from her school, though it seems not to have been added to the system.

She has moved again recently and the school are now taking a different approach and claiming DPO requires her to approve any disclosure for any child over 16. This may be the case for some children, but I do not think the same applies for vulnerable ones and where both parents have full custody.

This wasn’t a problem before and when I spoke to the SENCO last week to check her address, they were happy to share, but had an old/wrong address and I was able to update multiple newer ones for them.

This means that a vulnerable child has no current contact address for school or parents, which is very concerning.

She turns 18 in 2 days (which may change things THEN), but she is 17 NOW and delaying tactics by the school is very suspect to deal with the NOW.

When school provided her last address, we had no need to inform her that we knew or a need to visit there, we wanted it for safety purposes.

Disclosure is also a two way thing. We have always provided our/our daughter’s address details as a matter of courtesy to her school, even this week. Is school required to have a student’s address and who is responsible for providing/obtaining or checking this? If a school is required, then how are they more relevant than the parents (and we receive her mail here at the parental home)? When she is at school, the school don’t need her address as she is there and after school, they are not responsible or available. We as parents of a vulnerable child are the ones who need to know where she is. As it stands, (if legally we cannot be informed) it is likely that she will not provide an up to date or correct address to the school or us, and it becomes a classic case of where legal tecticalities make a vulnerable child unsafe with no known address for anyone to contact her.

Any thoughts? About the school doing one thing, (sharing address) then another (claiming CPO won’t allow without permission), the another (sharing her address, albeit very old) and also I can access and change all of her details on the app, so many conflicts. About whether I have a right to know where she lives. About her safety? Suicide has been a issue, but not sure if school is aware.

Any definitive or legal response ASAP would be great so I can contact school and before she is 18.

"You’ll usually need to get the pupil’s consent to share their data if they’re aged 13 or over. If they’re under 13, you must get consent from whomever holds parental responsibility for the child."

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/data-protection-in-schools/sharing-personal-data

I think the school may be right here.

Hi. I appreciate your time to reply, but not sure how useful or accurate it is. Can you link to the age 13 requirement you state, as all sources I found say 16, 'but can be older' as I don't want any guesses, just correct data. What is it in the link that you provided that you think will help? I don't need to share any data, I just need my child's address. Thirteen year olds need parental concent for virtually everything and can't live out without their parent's concent. Thank you.

She’s literally quoted the section in the link. It’s in ‘what you need consent for’

given the vulnerability might be worth reading KCSIE but I think the pp is right

So she comes and visits you, gets driving lessons from your house, but won't tell you where she stays? Are you paying for things for her?

How can you claim both adults 'have custody' when she doesn't live with you?

If she was an adult using your address for post you'd sort that out easily.

If she isn't telling you where she lives and you're not paying for it, or guarantoring it then it's really messy and complicated.

There are much bigger issues at play here.

Why doesn't your DD want you to know where she lives? Going behind her back to get it doesn't sound right, can you not discuss with her why you want to know her address and sort it out between you. Trying to force the school to give you information that she doesn't want you to have is putting them in an impossible position.

That section refers to consent for 3rd parties to process data though. Someone with parental responsibility (which ends at age 18) isn't a 3rd party.

This link explains it. But it doesn't make it clear whether a child's address is included in this or not.

My daughter went to live away at a specialist college when she was 16. We still had parental responsibility for her, claimed child benefit etc etc

School are supposed to keep up to date records on students. This will include a physical address.

For most students this is not a problem as the parents write it in on the application form and the information form when they start in year 7 and update it as and when they move.

In more complicated circumstances - eg split custody, child splits time between grandparents/aunt etc it is normal for school to ask for one lead contact and that will be the email/physical address. Sometimes the other ones are recorded as well but I don't believe this is a requirement.

It is quite common for students in year 11 and above to be in practice living elsewhere. Sometimes this is with boyfriends/girlfriends, sometimes with other family members, it's quite rare for them to actually completely move out into a shared house and be independent.

In those cases school might ask the student where they are living, and may well refer to social services depending on the situation and why the student is not living at home.

Their safeguarding responsibility is to the child, not to the parents, and on occasion this means that the school can and should act against the parents wishes.

Sounds like a case where social care would have been involved? If so, go through the social worker

That is very different to moving out to a flat share with friends.

@Rupert1234 - does she have a social worker? perhaps they are the ones that can clear this up. I wouldn't think school are able to provide this data without your DDs consent.

'She literally quoted the section in the link'

I'm sorry, it may be me. I'm Autistic. I can't find it.

Not really paying for things. We help out but she gwet her pown food and pays for accom/bills. Says she just wants some privacy.

But it isn't relevant and I can find no reference to 13 year olds.

It’s this section in the link, under the “What you need consent for” dropdown tab:

*Before sharing any personal data, you need to identify the lawful basis. This may be consent from the individual. There may be some circumstances where it may not be appropriate to ask for consent, however. For example:

• if the individual cannot give consent
• it’s not reasonable to ask for consent
• when there’s a safeguarding concern

You’ll usually need to get the pupil’s consent to share their data if they’re aged 13 or over. If they’re under 13, you must get consent from whomever holds parental responsibility for the child.*

The three bullet points don’t apply, and she’s over 13, so the school needs her consent to share her data.

What do you mean by you want her address for safety purposes? Do mean so you can turn up if you can’t get hold of her by phone? I imagine that’s what she wants to avoid. Or do you have actual concerns that where she is living is unsafe?

Do you want her to feel like she has to move as soon as she turns 18, just so she can have a new address that isn’t given out to you?

There is clearly a massive backstory here.

The school’s responsibility is to the child. They would need her consent to sharing it . Sorry OP.

Perhaps try to repair your relationship with her, sounds like it must be very complicated.

She lodged with a landlady and 2 others the first year & was in a flat the last year.

Why doesn’t DD want you to know the address? And what do you need it for?

with 2 days to go before she turns 18 you may have some rights left to ask questions, but your rights are vanishingly small. The school are right to not share since she is so close to being an adult. Stop trying to do this. It’s controlling. Concentrate on forming/maintaining a good relationship with your daughter.

It’s odd your daughter doesn’t want you to know where she lives. Does she feel suffocated by you at all?

I think the school have to respect her privacy here. She’s old enough and capable enough to flat share with friends so is able to make that decision about who she does and doesn’t share her information with.

Who’s paying for the flat? That would worry me. Is it the parents? It’s very odd. Is she going to be forced to marry someone?

Hiw does she pay for it? How can she sign any sort of tenancy agreement under 18 with no guarantor

Is there SS involvement?

The link that was posted by @Lougle is relevant. The reference to 13-year-olds can be found if you follow the link then click "Show" below the words "What you need consent for". It correctly says, "You’ll usually need to get the pupil’s consent to share their data if they’re aged 13 or over".

From a legal perspective, her address is personal data under GDPR. The school must have a legal basis for sharing it with you. The fact you are her parent does not provide a legal basis. At 17, she is entitled to decide where she lives and whether she wants you to know her address, notwithstanding her autism. Sharing her address with you would be a clear breach of GDPR. The school is right.