The UK’s data protection regulator is helping children and young people understand the power of their personal data as they learn, play and socialise online.

The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has launched a suite of lesson plans and worksheets to use when teaching primary and secondary school pupils how to protect their privacy online and how they can control what online companies and platforms know about them.

The resources explain what counts as personal data, how to protect it and how to keep it private on social media. They cover the curriculum in all parts of the UK and can be downloaded for free from the ICO website.

The resources form part of the ICO’s work on building awareness of the Children’s Code, a set of standards that online services must follow if they are likely to be accessed by children. That includes putting in place extra layers of protection for children’s data.

The ICO have recently added a set of lesson plans specifically on the Children’s Code. Teachers can use these to help children identify where they can go to for support, including what they should do if they suspect an app, game or website is misusing their data or not conforming to the Children’s code.

For more information on the Children’s Code, please visit the ICO’s dedicated website hub. They welcome any feedback or questions on the school resources.

For more information on the Children’s Code, please visit the ICO’s dedicated website hub or contact the Children’s Code team at the ICO. They welcome any feedback or questions on the school resources.