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Written question asked by Baroness Barran (Conservative) on Wednesday, 15 July 2026, in the House of Lords. It was due for an answer on Wednesday, 29 July 2026. It was answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern (Labour) on Thursday, 20 August 2026 on behalf of the Department for Education.

Education: ICT

Question

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the report by the Information Commissioner's Office Edtech examined, published on 24 June, which highlighted a number of compliance gaps across the EdTech sector, what assessment they have made of the collection of children's personal data by educational technology applications used in schools.

Answer

The department welcomes the findings of the report from the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) and recognises the highlighted areas where some educational technology providers may need to improve their compliance with data protection requirements. The department is working with the ICO to address some of the highlighted areas.

As schools are data controllers in their own right, they are responsible for deciding which EdTech tools to procure to support their functions. To help schools make informed data protection decisions when procuring EdTech tools, the department produced guidance to support schools in making decisions on procuring EdTech, available at GOV.UK. This guidance is intended to help schools understand their data protection responsibilities and consider appropriate measures when selecting suppliers while safeguarding the personal data of pupils, parents and carers.

The department continues to engage with the ICO to promote good practice across the education sector.

Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
HL2121
Session
2026-27
Subjects
Education ICT Children Data protection
Link
View this Written question on www.parliament.uk