Ministers failed to properly assess the data protection risks of their new live attendance tracker before its launch and misled schools about the involvement of the information watchdog.
Documents seen by Schools Week show the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) raised numerous concerns about the “high-risk” pilot. Officials questioned its legal basis and its plans to hold the data for 66 years.
The Department for Education has collected daily attendance data direct from 14,000 school registers since February through a partnership with the edtech firm Wonde.
