A webinar organized by the UNESCO Institute for Information Technologies in Education (IITE), the International Research and Training Centre for Rural Education and the Smart Learning Institute (SLI) at Beijing Normal University was held in June. The webinar centered around personal data and privacy protection in online learning as the potential risk of personal data leaks has increased with the rise of online teaching due to the pandemic situation.

Zhan Tao, director of the UNESCO IITE, said that schools and universities in all countries have gradually moved classes online. How to protect personal data and privacy has been the concern of all. The seminar promoted close cooperation among international organizations, experts, scholars and service providers for online educational technology and practical action to protect the personal data and privacy of students, teachers and parents.

According to Andreas Schleicher, director for the Directorate of Education and Skills, in the 21st century, internet technology has brought about new teaching methods, but potential risks have followed. At present, it is necessary to formulate corresponding protection countermeasures based on potential risks, as the risk of personal data and privacy exposure cannot be completely eliminated.

The application of cryptography will play an important role in protecting personal data and privacy in online classes, said Wang Xiaoyun, a professor of Tsinghua University. Cryptography has been widely used in wireless communication, the internet of things, big data, cloud computing and artificial intelligence. Therefore, an adequate application of cryptographic techniques would effectively protect personal data and privacy in the process of online teaching.

Yu Yu, a professor of the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at Shanghai Jiao Tong University, put forward that digital signatures and message authentication codes could ensure the integrity of information, while multifactor authentication could confirm the facticity of information. In addition, people must also raise their sense of confidentiality and actively use strong privacy techniques.

Huang Ronghuai, dean of SLI, said that protecting personal data and privacy in online learning must not be postponed, and understanding the basics of personal data protection will go a long way. Meanwhile, the government’s policies and standards, the technical support system and other stakeholders should jointly build a safe environment for education. The integration of digital study with traditional teaching, the sharing of related research and the protection of personal information will facilitate a bright future for our students.