With K-12 school districts using cloud collaboration platforms more than ever before, the approach to data privacy in schools is looking a lot different than what administrators are used to.

Google Workspace and Microsoft 365 are keeping students and staff connected. These apps have forever impacted the way education is delivered in school.

School districts suffer from data leaks—when a student or staff member shares data outside of the school district’s domain. At the same time, school districts have become one of the most targeted organizations for cyberattacks. Regardless of whether these incidents are malicious or inadvertent, they should not be happening in the first place.

Millions of students and staff have had their sensitive personal information exposed due to the cloud security shortcomings of school districts. The cloud has changed the way districts need to handle the data they store and it’s clear that there is a lack of knowledge among administrators on how to do it.

If you’re a technology leader looking to improve data privacy in your schools, you first need to get more serious about making improvements to the way your district’s data is secured.

The Link Between Data Security and Data Privacy

Data security and privacy in schools are linked. If your school district doesn’t have strong security measures in place, you can’t expect to have great data privacy for your students and staff. Despite the number of incidents impacting school districts increasing, there doesn’t seem to be a rise in concern by administrators—yet.