Privacy at school ? What message are we sending to our children

Reading the BBC today I noticed this little gem, that is a change to the Education Bill that would allow teachers greater powers over students mobile phones in order to combat cyber bullying. The report (on the BBC) states that in the new bill ( to be debated next week) teachers will be allowed to

“to search for phones without consent in a bid to combat cyber-bullying. The Education Bill, …. also allows heads to delete data from the phones.”

Lets read that one more time, teachers will be allowed to search the phone and delete content. Note that even RIPA does not go this far, will teachers have such due process ? Will there be an appeals process ? what happens if the phone is locked ? Can the teacher demand that the phone is unlocked ? What happens if the phone receives a remote wipe command whilst confiscated ? Note that the ability to be able to snoop on the contents of their lunch boxes is being removed…

It is one of those slippery slopes, I can see what they are trying to do and it is very noble. Apparently cyber bullying is rife and there are quite a few news stories that pop up from time to time, but is this appropriate ? Even Christine Blower, the general secretary of the National Union of Teachers stated that the powers go way too far. Lets compare to RIPA, if it was abused this surely will. Do we really want to wake up to stories similar to those that followed RIPA ? There was the family in Dorset who were surveilled as they may have been abusing the school catchment system, fishermen spied upon to see if they were gathering clams and cockles illegally the list goes on and on.

The powers that are granted to combat a threat must be proportionate, in this case they are obviously not. I fully support schools’ policies of banning mobile phones during the school day, there is no need for them and they can be a distraction, but to give teachers the rights to go through phones and edit content as they please is a step too far. If there genuinely has been a case of cyber bullying, involve the police and seize the evidence that way, lets keep teachers teaching and not playing a role better served by the police. Note that this is not just about school children either ( who could be up to 18) but the bill also applies to collages. Once the “children” reach 18 there is quite a lot that could be on the phone ( completely legally as at 18 both parties are fully consenting adults) that the “child” may have real reasons not to show their teacher.

My final advice is simple, ( and this applies to everyone not just kids) lock your phone with a strong password, turn on encryption, subscribe to a remote wiping service. And, if you are a child, leave the phone at home when you go to school.