Circular from the Ministry of National Education to 81 provinces: Student photos and lists to be removed

The Ministry of National Education (MEB) has implemented a new policy in schools regarding the protection of personal data. The Ministry has banned the sharing of students' personal data on official websites and corporate social media accounts, and has sent instructions to school administrations to remove previously published content as well.

A 10-point regulation prepared by the General Directorate of Information Technology within the scope of the Personal Data Protection Law (KVKK) has been transmitted to central and provincial organizations in 81 provinces. With this regulation, rules for the protection of personal data in digital environments have been tightened.

PERSONAL DATA BELONGING TO STUDENTS CANNOT BE PUBLISHED

According to the new regulation, students' class lists, school and identification numbers will not be shared on schools' official websites and social media accounts.

Furthermore, data regarding exam results, attendance information, academic rankings, health status, and disciplinary actions will not be permitted to be published on digital platforms.

According to information reported by Memurlar.net, parent contact information as well as photos and images of students and teachers will also be considered within the scope of personal data. In cases where photography or video recording is mandatory for educational activities, written explicit consent must be obtained from parents in accordance with relevant legislation.

OLD POSTS WILL ALSO BE REVIEWED ONE BY ONE

The Ministry's instruction does not only cover new posts. School administrations will also review content published to date on their websites and corporate social media accounts.

Old lists, documents, photos, and videos containing personal data or student images will be removed from public areas. School and institution administrators will be directly responsible for the execution of this process.

SECURITY MEASURES IN INFORMATION SYSTEMS INCREASED

Under the new rules, school administrators, teachers, civil servants, and personnel at driving schools and rehabilitation centers who use the Ministry's information systems will not be able to share their assigned passwords and verification codes with third parties.

The use of bots, macros, browser extensions, or unauthorized third-party software for data scraping during access to Ministry systems has also been prohibited.

The Ministry stated that operations such as access, queries, and data transfers performed in information systems will be tracked through system logs. In the event that unauthorized access or password sharing is detected, administrative and legal proceedings will be initiated against the relevant individuals. Additionally, teachers and administrators will be required to participate in mandatory awareness training provided through the Teacher Informatics Network (ÖBA).