School bans USB drives over fears of EU data law breach

PUPILS and staff have been banned from carrying USB flash drives into a school, in case they breach European Union data protection laws.

The Cherwell School, in Oxford, prohibited the use of the memory sticks last week, saying no “external drives” will be allowed on site because of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) guidelines.

The school said: “The use of USBS and any external drives will not be permissible within school for both staff and students due to GDPR guidelines.

“We will be putting together a video guide so staff can see how to use alternative ways of transferring files between home and school.”

The GDPR rules came into force in May 2018 and schools have had to adapt their practices to comply.

A report by the Information Commissioner’s Office advises organisations to restrict access to USB ports.

It said: “The GDPR requires organisations to put appropriate technical and organisational measures in place to ensure the security of personal data.

“USB ports and other drives that can be used for removable media should be locked down. Staff with legitimate reasons could be granted the ability to use certain ports and encrypted removable media should be used.”

When the GDPR first came into force, businesses had to change the privacy policy on their websites and that led to hundreds of emails, intended to make customers aware of the changes, clogging up their inboxes.