Unit 6 of 12
Storing information safely
Take reasonable steps to keep information safe — and the more sensitive it is, the more you must do.
Meet the boarding house manager
When the school holds information about people, it must take reasonable steps to protect it against loss, misuse and unauthorised access. The more sensitive the information, the more the school is expected to do.
A boarding house manager keeps a binder of boarders' details — contact information, medical notes and weekend leave plans — on the desk at the front of the residence office. After a break-in over a long weekend, the binder is found to have been gone through.
Since the break-in, the boarding house manager has changed how the binder is stored. Is each change sufficient?
The binder is now kept in a locked cabinet. Is that enough?
The boarding house manager instead types the records into the school's access-controlled, password-protected boarding system. Is that a good change?
Sensitivity sets the bar
The school must take reasonable steps given the circumstances — and sensitivity is the biggest circumstance. Routine information needs basic care; health and counselling information needs the highest.
Decide whether sufficient steps have been taken.
A staff member takes home a list of which house each girl belongs to, to help plan a low-key inter-house quiz. Is that okay?
Decide whether sufficient steps have been taken.
A counsellor takes a stack of students' counselling files home to finish notes they didn't get to during the day. Is that okay?