Safer tech in schools: a national approach

More robust measures are needed to keep schools safe online, according to a report by the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner.

The Notifiable Data Breaches Report: July–December 2020 revealed that the education sector reported the third-highest number of data breaches.

The Safer Technologies 4 Schools (ST4S) program was launched by Education Services Australia (ESA) in 2020 — a national initiative designed to assess the safety of online education products and services.

ST4S was established in collaboration with all Australian state, territory, Catholic and independent school sectors to develop a nationally consistent security and privacy control framework to help schools reduce risks when choosing digital products and services.

“Now that schools are more reliant than ever on technology, it’s imperative that everyone from education policymakers to classroom teachers understand data security and best practice to minimise threats,” said Andrew Smith, CEO at ESA.

“We have created a standardised national approach with transparent privacy, security and interoperability standards against which online education services and products are measured.”

The ST4S program supports vendors and schools in understanding potential risks for users and their data, and assists educators in choosing applications by providing clear, consistent information about safety, security and privacy.

A recent survey of the education sector revealed more than 4000 online education products and services used across Australian schools, with these numbers continually increasing.

Anthony Yaremenko, Program Manager of the National Schools Interoperability Program (NISP) at ESA, said the ST4S program has already assessed over 200 products with the results already contributing to a safer eco-system for schools.

Yaremenko notes that more than one-third of the products assessed have required vendors to make security and privacy improvements to meet the criteria, with many more committing to making the necessary changes.

“Schools are experiencing improved awareness of security and privacy and reduced risk when choosing education technology products, and vendors’ compliance costs have decreased because there is no longer a requirement for multiple local assessments,” he said.

Participation in the ST4S assessment process is simple and free: vendors can self-nominate and complete the ST4S Readiness Check at any time, or a school or education authority can invite them to participate.

Government schools with interest in the program are invited to talk to their state or territory security and privacy compliance teams. Mechanisms for sharing reports with the non-government sector are under development and will be shared with schools once available.

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