Introduction

As countries around the world embark on the digital transformation of all of their public services, EdTech has the potential to contribute to accessibility of education resources and enhanced learning outcomes, as well as to ease the administrative burden on teachers, improve classroom management and others.  At the same time, EdTech involves large amounts of processing of children’s data, and the data protection and security implications of this have so far been rather neglected. This panel will consider the respective roles of independent data protection regulators, government departments such as ministries of education, and the private sector, in relation to EdTech. We will ask how each of these stakeholders can work together to deliver on maximising the benefits of innovative EdTech for children’s education, whilst also prioritising children’s rights to privacy, freedom of expression, and self-determination.  

Key questions and objectives 

• How can regulators keep on top of the multitude of EdTech products in the market? 
• How can ministries of education ensure the educational quality of EdTech? 
• What guidance do EdTech companies need to ensure they are compliant with the law, and what do they need to do beyond compliance, to truly respect all of children’s rights?