Keeping information safe
The information held in Te Rito is subject to the Privacy Act 2020.
This means:
- Personal information can only be collected in Te Rito if it is for a lawful purpose connected with functions or activities that relate to education, and if the information is necessary for that purpose.
- Personal information must be safeguarded from loss and unauthorised access, use, and modification or disclosure.
- Ākonga, learners and their parents or legal guardians must know about the information being collected and why it is being collected. The content on this website helps with this and is in addition to specific school communications.
- Ākonga, learners and their parents or legal guardians have a right to see the information about them held in school systems including Te Rito and correct it if it is not accurate.
- Personal information should only be used for the reason it was collected and it must be disposed of when no longer needed. It should not be shared unless there is a good reason.
Kura and school's privacy statements and policies
Before connecting to Te Rito, kura and schools should review their privacy statements, enrolment forms and policies to ensure they're up-to-date and fit for purpose.
They should outline the rights of ākonga, learners, and their parents or legal guardians under the Privacy Act 2020, and copies can be requested by anyone at any time.
Privacy statements and policies should cover:
- why information is being collected
- who is going to see the information
- the legal basis for collecting information
- whether providing the information is mandatory or voluntary
- that ākonga, learners and parents or guardians have the rights of access to, and correction of, their personal information.
Enrolment forms should request explicit consent to share learner information with the next kura or school. If it's not included on an enrolment form, the privacy statement should make it clear that one purpose for collecting learner information is to share it with the next kura or school, or through Te Rito.
See the Te Rito privacy statement and to help understand your responsibilities when using Te Rito, see the Te Rito Terms of Use.
Consent to collect and use information held in Te Rito
As authorised under the Education Act and other legislation, kura or schools do not need consent to use Te Rito to support learners with their education, but it is good practice to let ākonga and learners, and their parents and whānau, know what information they will be collecting and how they're going to use it.
Managing privacy risks
Kura, schools and the Ministry share responsibility for ensuring the protection of information held in Te Rito by only allowing people who are authorised to access it. Kaimahi are only able to see the information they need to do their jobs.
The Ministry has completed a Privacy Impact Assessment (PIA) to identify and mitigate potential privacy risks associated with Te Rito. The PIA was developed in consultation with multiple stakeholders including the Office of the Privacy Commissioner.
The PIA will be proactively released with a plain language summary to help ākonga and learners, their teachers, and parents and whānau, to understand the privacy protections built into Te Rito.
The Te Rito Data Kaitiakitanga Group also provides oversight of data held in Te Rito.
Sharing learning support information
Sharing any personal information you have collected requires consent. For example, if ākonga and learners or their parents and whānau do not give consent for learning support information to be shared, no data about their tamaiti or child will appear (apart from demographic information which will be pulled from the kura or school's SMS).
There are also separate consents required for sharing personal learning support information across a learning support cluster.
Consents should be reviewed as ākonga and learners move through their education journey, for example, when they move from an early learning service to a kura or school. The ākonga or learner, or their parent or guardian, might want to consider changes to their situation, including decisions about who has access to their information and what information should be shared.
Keeping privacy knowledge and skills up to date
Help protect learner information by understanding the Privacy ABCs for Schools.
This online training from the Office of the Privacy Commissioner is split across twelve modules. They each take five minutes and can be completed at your own pace. The training gives practical tips for teachers who deal with personal information and helps them to understand kura and schools' obligations under the Privacy Act 2020.