(13)_1000.png "Newsflash - May 2020")
May 2020
As we start moving towards the easing of lockdown measures, we wish to update you with a few new developments.
ICO
The ICO have issued guidance about their approach during this pandemic. Specifically, whilst they still expect organisations to do their utmost to comply with data requests, they acknowledge that this is not always possible. They state that:
"We will recognise that the reduction in organisations’ resources could impact their ability to respond to Subject Access Requests, where they need to prioritise other work due to the current crisis. We can take this into account when considering whether to impose any formal enforcement action."
This doesn’t mean we can delay handling all requests. This is because an organisation's ability to deal with a request will vary on a case by case basis. In addition, the ICO are still handling complaints from individuals in the normal way. If you are unsure about your capacity to deal with a request, please do revert to dataservices@judicium.com (or call us) for advice.
Guidance on Publication of Results
Ofqual have published the next stage of their guidance on grading for GCSE and A level results. Within this guidance they have acknowledged that there could be a high portion of data requests from students/parents about assessment grades and the process for doing so. This guidance has made it clear that, prior to publication of those results, requests should not be made to the School. They have added that prior to publication of results they will provide updated appeal's guidance to help manage queries which come in following publication. They have indicated that the appeal criteria needs to be narrow. We will keep you updated.
Home working
Whilst home working remains a key component of our day to day lives, we have created a Home Working Policy which has now been added to the Jedu portal.
Zoom and Teams update
Zoom have recently added encryption security to its call features. However there have been concerns about when it will add “end to end” encryption on its calls. “End to end” encryption means only the users on each end can read the messages (in a similar way that Whatsapp and Facetime operate). Zoom have recently announced that they have acquired an encryption company which means they will soon have this feature on their software. The one downside is that this feature will only appear on paid accounts and won’t apply to free Zoom accounts.
Microsoft Teams will soon be expanding its ability for group video chat on teams. In the next couple of weeks, it will expand the video chat windows from 4 to 9 and the number of participants from 100 to 250. We have a guidance document on our Jedu portal which you can issue to staff giving good practice guidance on the use of video conferencing.
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