Division of General Counsel, Governance and Compliance

Online Teaching and Data Protection

The University will provide a blended teaching approach in academic year 2020/21 comprising a mix of online and face-to-face learning. Activities will sometimes involve the processing of personal data, such as audio and video presentation and lecture or seminar recordings. This is necessary to enable the delivery of teaching and learning so our students are able to continue their studies. 

Staff and students are reminded of the University’s ‘Policy on the recording of teaching activities and other uses of Panopto’, in particular the following:

  • The recording of teaching activities by individuals other than the academic is not permitted without the prior consent of the academic and other individuals involved, unless it is a reasonable adjustment as part of a student’s disability learning plan;
  • Recordings may only be used for the purpose for which the recording is made, usually to support teaching and learning and for the purpose of personal study;
  • Recordings must not be reproduced or distributed to any third party and must not be made available on external websites or social media channels.

All recordings are stored securely and are only be kept for as long as is necessary for the purpose for which the material is recorded and then deleted.

Further information about how the University processes personal data for educational purposes can be found in our Privacy Notice.

If staff or students have any concerns about the processing of their personal data as a result of the move to teaching online, or where there are individual circumstances where such processing would not be appropriate, they can contact the Data Protection Officer at dpo@sussex.ac.uk for further advice.