Taking documents home: securing personal data

Personal data accessed by staff at home must be kept secure. Take these steps to keep documents containing personal data safe, avoid a data breach and stay compliant with the UK GDPR.

Last reviewed on 7 September 2023
School types: All · School phases: All
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Contents
  1. Do everything you can to prevent a breach of personal data
  2. Store data electronically so it can be remotely accessed, where possible
  3. Set out a process to follow for physical documents

Do everything you can to prevent a breach of personal data

This is part of the "integrity and confidentiality" principle of the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR).

This includes making sure that staff keep secure any physical documents containing personal data that they take home. This is to prevent the data from being lost, stolen or accidentally leaked.

There are no specific rules on how you must do this. Consider taking the practical measures below, as advised by our associate education expert Mark Trusson, as well as any additional measures you think will improve data security.

Read more about the UK GDPR and how to make sure your school is compliant in our other articles. Use our GDPR staff briefing to help get your staff up to date.

Store data electronically so it can be remotely accessed, where possible

As far as possible, keep personal