Who controls children's education data? A socio-legal analysis of the UK governance regimes for schools and EdTech

In a new open-access journal article, we examine the governance of data processed from children in educational contexts and ask whether this is in children’s best interests. Currently there are two different governance regimes for children’s education data: UK GDPR which sits alongside the Data Protection Act (DPA) 2018, and the Five Safes framework, a set of principles which enable data services to provide safe research access to data. Our socio-legal analysis found problems with both governance regimes, as detailed in the article. We conclude with three recommendations to improve the governance of chidlren’s education data.