Where exactly does the 89% figure come from?

The GEM Report 2023 cites a Human Rights Watch (2022) analysis. That analysis found that 89% of the 163 products examined can monitor children [Human Rights Watch 2022, cited in UNESCO GEM 2023]. The analysis assessed the technical monitoring capabilities of each product using publicly available documentation, privacy policies, and direct testing. The report incorporates those results to illustrate the gap between vendors' declared practices and the actual capabilities of their tools.

Does Law 25 apply to digital tools that teachers use personally, like a timer app or a classroom polling tool?

Yes, if the tool processes students' personal information, even indirectly. A polling app that records responses with a student's name or identifier processes personal information. Law 25 does not distinguish between tools used at a teacher's initiative and those deployed by the CSS: if personal information is involved, a PIA is required and must be managed by the CSS.

What is a PIA, and who is responsible for conducting one?

A Privacy Impact Assessment (PIA) is a documented process that analyses the privacy risks that a system or project poses for the individuals involved. In Quebec, it is mandatory before communicating personal information outside Quebec or before deploying a collection system. In the school context, the responsibility rests with the CSS, as the organization that processes student data. The teacher does not conduct the PIA personally, but can report an unassessed tool to the principal or the CSS's privacy officer.

Does LinoClass collect behavioural data on students?

No. LinoClass does not create accounts for students and does not track their digital behaviour. The platform is designed for teacher-to-family communication: the teacher sends messages, parents receive them. No student behavioural data is collected. That data scope is documented and can be incorporated directly into a CSS's PIA.

What should a teacher do if a colleague is using an unassessed tool in their classroom?

The appropriate step is to flag the situation to the school principal or the CSS's privacy officer, without confronting the colleague directly. Non-compliance with Law 25 is an institutional responsibility of the CSS, not an individual responsibility of the teacher. The principal can verify whether the tool is listed on the register of assessed third-party services and, if not, initiate the assessment process or ask the teacher to stop using it.

UNESCO GEM Report 2023: Student Data Monitoring in EdTech

Quick Answer

The UNESCO Global Education Monitoring Report 2023 found that only 16% of countries guarantee protection of education data by law, and an analysis of 163 EdTech products cited in the report found that 89% can monitor children, often without notifying teachers or parents [UNESCO GEM 2023].

In September 2023, UNESCO published its Global Education Monitoring (GEM) Report 2023, titled Technology in Education: A Tool on Whose Terms? The report covers 193 countries and documents the actual state of legal and technical protections around student data in digital education systems [UNESCO GEM 2023].

What does the GEM 2023 report reveal about digital tools and student monitoring?

The report surfaces two structural findings. First: only 16% of countries guarantee data protection in the education sector through specific legislation [UNESCO GEM 2023]. The majority of school systems worldwide therefore rely on contractual privacy policies between schools and vendors, with no binding legal protection for students.

Second: a Human Rights Watch analysis published in 2022, cited in the UNESCO Global Education Monitoring (GEM) Report 2023, examined 163 EdTech products and found that 89% are technically capable of monitoring children, often without informing teachers or parents [Human Rights Watch 2022, cited in UNESCO GEM 2023]. The report notes that this monitoring takes multiple forms: collection of behavioural data (clicks, screen time, incorrect answers), geolocation, audio or video recording, and access to device contacts.

Both findings point to the same structural gap: most digital education tools are built to collect data, and school systems generally lack the legal mechanisms to govern that collection.

What does Quebec's Law 25 require before a school service centre adopts a digital tool?

Quebec's Act to Modernize Legislative Provisions Respecting the Protection of Personal Information (Law 25) has been fully in force since September 2024. It applies to any organization that collects or processes personal information about individuals, including school service centres (CSS) and the technology vendors they use.

Law 25 requires CSS to conduct a Privacy Impact Assessment (PIA) before deploying any system or technology that processes personal information. The PIA must document what data is collected, by whom, for what purposes, and how it is protected. Vendors must be able to answer these questions in writing.

In practice, this means a teacher who wants to use a digital tool not yet assessed by their CSS exposes the institution to a compliance risk. The individual initiative that was common before September 2024 now needs to pass through the CSS's assessment process.

LinoClass has a fixed data scope: teacher-initiated messages, no behavioural tracking of students, no student account, and Canadian-hosted infrastructure. That scope is documented and can be submitted directly to a CSS's PIA.

What questions should a teacher ask before using a new digital classroom tool?

The UNESCO GEM 2023 report provides an evaluation framework that teachers can adapt. Five practical questions:

What data does the tool collect about students, and for what specific purposes?
Is data shared with third parties, including for advertising?
Is the tool listed on my CSS's register of assessed third-party services?
Has my CSS completed a PIA for this tool?
Where is the data hosted, and is it subject to foreign legislation (e.g., the US Cloud Act)?

These are not obstacles to using digital tools. They are the questions that Law 25 gives teachers and principals the right to ask, and that vendors are obligated to answer.

LinoClass is built to fit your PIA

Fixed data scope, Canadian-hosted, documented and ready to submit directly to your CSS's Privacy Impact Assessment.

See features

UNESCO GEM Report 2023: what the EdTech monitoring data means for Quebec teachers

What does the GEM 2023 report reveal about digital tools and student monitoring?

What does Quebec's Law 25 require before a school service centre adopts a digital tool?

What questions should a teacher ask before using a new digital classroom tool?

LinoClass is built to fit your PIA

Frequently asked questions

Source

What does the GEM 2023 report reveal about digital tools and student monitoring?

What does Quebec's Law 25 require before a school service centre adopts a digital tool?

What questions should a teacher ask before using a new digital classroom tool?

LinoClass is built to fit your PIA

Frequently asked questions

Source

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