Hi everyone,
I'm posting this in AIBU because I want to know if I'm overreacting or if other parents/carers (especially foster carers or anyone involved with looked-after kids) share my concerns.
Many local councils use a system called ePEP Online (from a company called eGov Solutions) to manage Personal Education Plans for children in care, and children with special needs. It's meant to track school progress, attendance, and pupil premium funding – all good stuff on the surface.
But I've come across some serious worries about how safe it really is for our most vulnerable kids:
In plain English: Staff from different councils apparently share the same logins and passwords. That means anyone with those details could potentially access private info about hundreds of children from all over the country. It's like leaving your front door key under the mat for strangers.
The company doesn't have proper independent security certifications (like ISO 27001 for the whole organisation – they just rely on their cloud host's). For something holding super-sensitive data about kids who've often already been through trauma, that feels risky.
There's a feature called Squiddle Chat (or just Squiddle) that's supposed to let children message their teachers or social workers privately. But concerns have been raised that it's not properly monitored or filtered, which could leave kids open to grooming or other dangers – especially since looked-after children are at higher risk of exploitation.
No evidence of regular independent security checks or penetration testing, even though it's been running for years.
These aren't just my thoughts – they've come from whistleblower accounts and questions raised with councils and the ICO.
I know tech isn't perfect, and no system is 100% safe, but when it's about kids' highly personal data (health, family background, safeguarding notes), shouldn't it be held to the highest standards?
AIBU to think this is a big red flag and that councils should pause using it until it's properly audited? Or am I being paranoid?
Has anyone else heard about this, or does your council use ePEP? Any foster carers or social workers who can share (anonymously) if they've seen issues?