Exclusive Brisbane school at centre of alleged data breach
Sensitive information from a survey of students at a high-profile Brisbane high school was potentially shared with a third party in a data breach, according to complaints made by parents.
Sensitive information from a survey of students at an exclusive Brisbane high school was potentially shared with a third party in a data breach, according to complaints made by parents.
Parents whose students attend Toowong’s Queensland Academy for Science, Mathematics and Technology made several complaints of alleged data breaching at a heated P&C meeting.
The parents claimed the school conducted a two-year wellbeing survey across all year levels without undertaking a department approved online risk assessment.
One parent told The Courier-Mail the school shared “personal and sensitive” student health and wellbeing data with a third party without parental consent.
The Department of Education confirmed the data was deleted following complaints raised by the parents at the meeting.
The survey, Assessing Wellbeing in Education, is a collection of “validated psychometric scales and scientifically informed questions from the psychology literature that assess various aspects of wellbeing”, according to its website.
Another parent claimed the AWE website was not secure and expressed concern about the risk and consequence of sensitive health and wellbeing data potentially being breached.
Parents voiced their concerns to the principal in June last year, according to minutes from a P&C meeting obtained by The Courier-Mail.
One parent expressed concerns around data security and that the data storage location and protocols were “inadequate” given the data’s potential sensitivity.
Another parent said they were “very concerned” how and where the data was housed and said questions presented in the survey “could pose a risk for students who return poor scores”.
The Department of Education was asked whether sensitive or personal information was shared to a third party and whether it was concerned over a potential data breach.
The department confirmed the school ran the AWE survey from 2020-2021 and that it was used to provide wellbeing data to inform the school’s positive education program.
A department spokesman said the school changed to AWE from another wellbeing survey without updating permissions from parents.
He said this was brought to the school’s attention and it immediately requested AWE to delete any data relating to QASMT, which was later confirmed to have been deleted.
“This issue was discussed at the school’s meeting on June 14 to inform the school community,” the spokesman said.
“There is no higher priority for the department than the safety and wellbeing of students.
“Whenever the department becomes aware of any potential risk to student wellbeing, appropriate inquiries and action is taken in accordance with departmental policies and procedures.”
It’s unclear how many other Queensland schools, if any, used the AWE survey as the department does not hold a central register.
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