Privacy Notices - Formerly 'Fair Processing Notice'

Privacy Notices (formerly FPN) The Information Commissioner has recommended that the term 'Fair Processing Notice' be replaced by 'Privacy Notice'. The Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) is therefore adopting this approach in its data collections from now on, and has reviewed the whole process of issuing Privacy Notices

In the past, the suggested text has included the use of school information made available by the Local Authority (LA) or the DCSF. However, the new process will mean much simpler Privacy Notices, where details of any organisations with which the LA and DCSF share data are contained on the LA and DCSF websites, with links from the Privacy Notices. This means that Privacy Notices do not need reissuing on an annual basis. The aim is to make the Privacy Notices issued to children and staff general and constant. Any changes to the details of organisations with which school or LA data is shared can be updated on the LA and DCSF websites.

To ensure this new approach to Privacy Notices works effectively:

• The LA and/or DCSF will need to make hard copies of their website information available to those without web access.
• The LA will need to include details of their Primary Care Trusts, Connexion Services and local ContactPoint services and other local bodies with which they share data.
• The DCSF will include details of organisations it shares data with, such as Managing Information Across Partners (MIAP), Ofsted, the examination boards, the Training and Development Agency, the General Teaching Council for England, and the central ContactPoint organisation.

The new approach is that a single, short and easily understandable Privacy Notice can be provided to learners and staff by the school or LA at the same time as other communications that they issue. For example:

• A learner might receive the Privacy Notice as part of a school brochure or induction pack, or in a school diary, and it could be posted on the school notice board.
• For staff, the Privacy Notice might be included as part of a contract, induction pack, and posted on the staff notice board, etc.
• A child receiving Social Care Services or a child looked after might receive their Privacy Notice as part of other information about the services that they are being offered.

It is anticipated that staff, and young people over the age of 12 with the maturity to make their own decisions, should generally be able to request to see their personal information themselves under the Subject Access Provisions (S.7) of the Data Protection Act. For children under 12, their parents will act on their behalf. In any event, it will be for the school, as data controller, to assess whether the child is capable of understanding the personal information in question, and so decide whether the parent needs to make the request on the child's behalf.

As always, these are only suggested texts and the DCSF recommends that your own legal advisors should review them so that they can be amended to suit local needs.

• learners in schools, Early Years settings, alternative provision and Pupil Referral Units  Privacy Notice Pupils Jan 2010 [122kb]- suggested text for Privacy Notice
•  Privacy Notice Children in Need and Looked After Children Dec 2009 [105kb] - Suggested text for Privacy Notice
• school workforce: those employed or otherwise engaged to work at a school or the LA — suggested text for Privacy Notice
• what the DCSF does with pupils' and children's data
• what the DCSF does with school-workforce data
• suggested information for an LA to include on their website

The above documents are from the Teachernet website. Therefore further updates will need to be pursued via the following web link:-

•  Teachernet

The LA uses information about children for whom it provides services, to enable it to carry out specific functions for which it is responsible, such as the assessment of any special educational needs the child may have. It also uses the information to derive statistics to inform decisions on (for example) the funding of schools, and to assess the performance of schools and set targets for them. The statistics are used in such a way that individual children cannot be identified from them. The LA is also required to maintain the accuracy of the information held on ContactPoint about children and young people in their area.

The LA will use information about its school workforce for research and statistical purposes, and to evaluate and develop education policy and strategies. The statistics are used in such a way that individual staff cannot be indentified from them. The LA may also use it to support and monitor schools regarding sickness and recruitment of staff.

If you wish to access the personal data which DCSF hold about your child, then please contact:

Public Communications Unit, Department for Children, Schools and Families, Sanctuary Buildings, Great Smith Street, London, SW1P 3BT 

website: www.dcsf.gov.uk

e-mail info@dcsf.gsi.gov.uk

tel:0870 000 288