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defenddigitalme.bsky.social
Defend Digital Me
@defenddigitalme.bsky.social
130 followers 200 following 54 posts
Defend Digital Me is a call to action to protect learners’ rights to privacy. We are teachers and parents who campaign for safe, fair and transparent data processing in education, in England, and beyond. http://defenddigitalme.org
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defenddigitalme.bsky.social
Defend Digital Me @defenddigitalme.bsky.social · Feb 5
School pupils’ ‘sex survey’ data offered to researchers: Opt out fails children on reuse of #ID and Local Authorities’ survey

defenddigitalme.org/2025/02/05/s...

#Scotland #Health #Wellbeing #DataBill #DUABill #CWBSBill #DataProtection #privacy #AI #Copyright Children's Wellbeing and Schools Bill
A card to accompany the blogpost: School pupils’ ‘sex survey’ data offered to researchers: Opt out fails children on reuse of ID and research https://defenddigitalme.org/2025/02/05/school-pupils-sex-survey-data-offered-to-researchers-opt-out-fails-children-on-reuse-of-id-and-research/ Where the headline text is on the right of the card below the Defend Digital Me logo and superimposed on a transparent background image of a government building, Scottish flag, question marks and shadow of a child, all below 'the hand of the state' and zeros and ones in white on pink.
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Reposted by Defend Digital Me
privacyinternational.org
Privacy International @privacyinternational.org · 4d
In England, children are tracked from birth through education databases that record their lives in detail. These systems are vast, permanent, and invisible to most families.
privacyinternational.org/long-read/56...
From Playground to Database: child data in education
In England’s schools, children are not only pupils but also data subjects. From the moment they are born, a digital record begins to take shape — one that will follow them through nursery, primary…
privacyinternational.org
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Reposted by Defend Digital Me
privacyinternational.org
Privacy International @privacyinternational.org · 4d
Education should nurture curiosity, not feed algorithms that children are unable to consent to. It’s time to question how deeply surveillance is being built into childhood itself.

Read our article with @defenddigitalme.bsky.social 👉 privacyinternational.org/long-read/56...
From Playground to Database: child data in education
In England’s schools, children are not only pupils but also data subjects. From the moment they are born, a digital record begins to take shape — one that will follow them through nursery, primary…
privacyinternational.org
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Reposted by Defend Digital Me
privacymatters.bsky.social
Pat Walshe - Privacy Matters @privacymatters.bsky.social · 26d
@jenpersson.com @defenddigitalme.bsky.social
noyb.eu noyb @noyb.eu · 26d
🎉 Big #WIN for student privacy! 🔒 Austria’s DPA has issued a decision finding that #Microsoft 365 Education illegally tracks pupils and uses student data for Microsoft's own purposes.

📰 Read the full blog post, including a comment by Max #Schrems 👉 noyb.eu/en/noyb-win-...
noyb win: Microsoft 365 Education tracks school children
Favorable decision by the Austrian DSB: Microsoft Education 365 may not track school kids and Microsoft is ordered to provide full access to kids' data.
noyb.eu
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defenddigitalme.bsky.social
Defend Digital Me @defenddigitalme.bsky.social · Sep 29
Department for Education refuses to release 2020 audit of national pupil records, under FOI.

defenddigitalme.org/2025/09/29/d...

#FOI #GDPR #DataProtection #PupilData #UK #SchoolsBill #CWBSBill
DfE refuses to release 2020 audit of national pupil records under FOI — Defend Digital Me
What’s new: The Department for Education has refused to release its full 2020 ICO Audit—over five years later—claiming it would be prejudicial today, “to the conduct of public affairs” and specificall...
defenddigitalme.org
defenddigitalme.bsky.social
Defend Digital Me @defenddigitalme.bsky.social · Jul 5
Read the Lord Frost comments in context, in the Hansard record of the full House of Lords debate on July 3, 2025 (part 1)

Children’s Wellbeing and #SchoolsBill Committee Stage #CWBSBill hansard.parliament.uk/lords/2025-0... 2/2
Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill - Hansard - UK Parliament
Hansard record of the item : 'Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill' on Thursday 3 July 2025.
hansard.parliament.uk
defenddigitalme.bsky.social
Defend Digital Me @defenddigitalme.bsky.social · Jul 5
Lord Frost, Children's Wellbeing and #SchoolsBill 3/7/2025, "we are seeing the erosion of the vital principle that freedom and autonomy are fundamentally important and that the state does not have the right to go anywhere it wants at will".

www.youtube.com/watch?v=kdZb...

#education 1/2
Lord Frost July 3, 2025 Children's Wellbeing and Schools Bill
YouTube video by defend digital me
www.youtube.com
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defenddigitalme.bsky.social
Defend Digital Me @defenddigitalme.bsky.social · Jun 23
Our interview @privacyinternational.org podcast includes discussion of UK Department for #Education “Futures research looking at the implications of the use of #genomics in relation to education, focusing on 2 potential future scenarios.”

Timely in context of recent news www.bbc.com/news/article...
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Reposted by Defend Digital Me
gateklons.bsky.social
Gateklons @gateklons.bsky.social · Jun 14
I already knew of the issues surrounding DfE collection of pupil data and the UK database state but this is a really eye-opening and interesting (by which I mean horrifying) account of that by Jen Peersen from @defenddigitalme.bsky.social. I highly recommend you give it a listen
youtu.be/3vb_JysheF0
Learning about learners: Protecting Children's Data
YouTube video by Privacy International
youtu.be
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defenddigitalme.bsky.social
Defend Digital Me @defenddigitalme.bsky.social · Jun 19
#NHS number to be national ID mandated in Children’s Wellbeing and #SchoolsBill

Key points of what we know, and seven areas of scrutiny and challenge, particularly as Clause 31 in the Bill is debated soon and its potential for scope creep, as happening in Wales

defenddigitalme.org/2025/06/14/n...
NHS number to be national ID mandated in Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill — Defend Digital Me
There are three key things going on in parallel about the Single Unique Identifier (“SUI”) ID mandated in Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill and children’s NHS number: 1. The Government has confirm...
defenddigitalme.org
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defenddigitalme.bsky.social
Defend Digital Me @defenddigitalme.bsky.social · Jun 17
“Learning about learners: Protecting Children's #Data” @PrivacyInternational.org with @JenPersson.com (June 2025).

Current issues in education in England: What’s in a National Pupil Record? #EdTech, #AI, what futures are possible and how and why it matters

privacyinternational.org/video/5598/l...
Learning about learners protecting children’s data — Privacy International podcast from June 2025 interview with Defend Digital Me — “the technology pill” images on orange background with white text.
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defenddigitalme.bsky.social
Defend Digital Me @defenddigitalme.bsky.social · Jun 7
Excited to be participating at the ‘Data Tech and Black Communities’ report launch in Birmingham.

The first part of a wide range of their work. On #edTech #pupildata and #HumanRights empowering children and families in state education in England. dtbc.org.uk

More coming soon.
A photo of the executive summary of the ‘Data Tech and Black Communities’ report: “what if we took stewarding children’s data seriously?” The first part of a wide range of their work. On #edTech #pupildata and #HumanRights empowering children and families in state education in England. dtbc.org.uk A photo from slides shown at the ‘Data Tech and Black Communities’ report launch: “what if we took stewarding children’s data seriously?” This slide is of the website dtbc.org.uk More coming soon. A photo from slides shown at the ‘Data Tech and Black Communities’ report launch: “what if we took stewarding children’s data seriously?” This slide is talking about the advertising in EdTech A photo from slides shown at the ‘Data Tech and Black Communities’ report launch: “what if we took stewarding children’s data seriously?” This slide is talking about the commercial exploitation and incentives in EdTech that are not in the best interests of the child
Reposted by Defend Digital Me
connectedbydata.org
Connected by Data @connectedbydata.org · Jun 3
What happens when public data is shared with the wrong people?

🗃️ The Department for Education (DfE) maintains records about everybody who has received state-funded education in England since 1996 in the National Pupil Database. It routinely shares this information with third parties.

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Reposted by Defend Digital Me
cdteu.org
CDT Europe @cdteu.org · May 26
📢 CDT Europe and 88 others just sent a joint letter to the European Commission warning against plans that risk weakening end-to-end #encryption in the EU.

Strong encryption protects everyone’s security. We need to defend it, not undermine it. #E2EE #ProtectEU
Joint Letter on Encryption and the European Internal Security Strategy (ProtectEU)
On 26 May 2025, CDT Europe, as part of the steering committee of the Global Encryption Coalition, alongside 88 civil society organisations, companies, and cybersecurity experts published a joint lette...
cdt.org
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defenddigitalme.bsky.social
Defend Digital Me @defenddigitalme.bsky.social · May 26
On #WorldVampireDay — you can use a ‘Subject Access Request’ to ask the DfE for a copy of all the personal data sucked out from your school about you or your child since 2002.

Find out: Who’s been given it & why? What is kept forever? #DraculaDay #Education

defenddigitalme.org/my-school-re...
Know any data vampires? White text in orange tile with three bat silhouettes in corners
defenddigitalme.bsky.social
Defend Digital Me @defenddigitalme.bsky.social · May 15
Five years after the ICO DfE audit, only a 6-side summary has ever been published about the 139 findings defenddigitalme.org/wp-content/upl… Remedial actions are long overdue—why can the termly census affecting 700,000 pupils be done if the required fixes aren’t?defenddigitalme.org/wp-content/u...df
defenddigitalme.org
defenddigitalme.bsky.social
Defend Digital Me @defenddigitalme.bsky.social · May 15
The summer term #school #census opens in England today. But do parents know where pupil records go each term? Will the new ICO Code of Practice for #education help?

“Unlawful, unsafe and unaccountable. Education, we have a #data problem.” (2020) in Schools Week schoolsweek.co.uk/unlawful-uns... 1/2
Unlawful, unsafe and unaccountable. Education's big data problem
A damning ICO report on the DfE’s data handling is a wake-up call for the department - and schools can also learn from it, writes Jen Persson
schoolsweek.co.uk
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Reposted by Defend Digital Me
rosamundevb.bsky.social
Rosamunde Van Brakel @rosamundevb.bsky.social · May 8
Tomorrow is the deadline!! 🌟
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Reposted by Defend Digital Me
lyndsayg.bsky.social
Lyndsay Grant @lyndsayg.bsky.social · Apr 17
In August last year the UK government announced a share of £1m to award to AI companies who bring forward the best ideas to reduce teacher workload by March 2025.

Anyone seen an announcement of the successful tools?

www.gov.uk/search/news-...
News and communications
Find news and communications from government
www.gov.uk
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defenddigitalme.bsky.social
Defend Digital Me @defenddigitalme.bsky.social · Apr 17
And that’s it. Choose your own adventure, the outcomes are up to you.

If you can, help us resist a dystopian future in education and fight for safe, fair, transparent data, systems and #EdTech that empower every learner to thrive.
 Enjoy the game. #HappyEaster2025

defenddigitalme.org/donate/

 8/8
Donate — Defend Digital Me
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defenddigitalme.bsky.social
Defend Digital Me @defenddigitalme.bsky.social · Apr 17
Or will you become the Digital Ghost? Your future erased.



"You decide you will write to your MP in parliament in secret, but for now, you are stuck until you choose to work with others to resist." 7/8



Instead, you can choose to write to them today defenddigitalme.org/my-school-re...
My Records My Rights | Defend Digital Me — Defend Digital Me
My Records My Rights (The National Pupil Database)
defenddigitalme.org
defenddigitalme.bsky.social
Defend Digital Me @defenddigitalme.bsky.social · Apr 17
Or will you resist, and start by finding out more?

Take action in the real world scenarios today, with Defend Digital Me resources and templates. 

defenddigitalme.org/resources/



Who knows what about you? 6/8
Resources — Defend Digital Me
defenddigitalme.org
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defenddigitalme.bsky.social
Defend Digital Me @defenddigitalme.bsky.social · Apr 17
Will you be the good student?

"Years later, you apply for university. You realise your entire history is owned by private firms. Your thoughts, habits, relationships—all pre-analysed, predictable.

Your choices are decided by them. Your life was never yours.” 5/8
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defenddigitalme.bsky.social
Defend Digital Me @defenddigitalme.bsky.social · Apr 17
You start looking into the systems. You talk to the IT teacher—one of the few adults who still seems human. The first thing you do is revoke consent to your biometric data and watch a video to find out more about use of #biometrics in schools. 4/8

Check it out www.youtube.com/watch?v=9kdW...
Ban Biometrics in Schools Animation 2022
YouTube video by defend digital me
www.youtube.com
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defenddigitalme.bsky.social
Defend Digital Me @defenddigitalme.bsky.social · Apr 17
You are being watched, constantly. At first, it feels normal. Convenient, even. And now, you start to wonder: Who owns this data? Who controls it? What do you do?



Investigate or continue complying? 

#HappyEaster2025 at Horizon Academy 3/8
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defenddigitalme.bsky.social
Defend Digital Me @defenddigitalme.bsky.social · Apr 17
Will you resist quietly—try to avoid the new systems, revolt, or be the model student? A choose-your-own adventure game.

"Then, one morning, the Data Compliance Team arrives."

 2/8 



Follow the link to play 🎲 "Data Shadows: A Student's Tale". defenddigitalme.org/wp-content/u...
"Data Shadows: A Student’s Tale"
defenddigitalme.org