Is it legal for a teacher to do this? [UK]

[SIGSEGV]

So apparently, in my school a kid was made to give his phone to a teacher, the teacher then proceeded to go through his phone and copy all his stuff off of it. He did this because there was a fight and the teacher thought he'd have a recording of it or something, the teacher called the kids parents and told them he had been in 'gang related activities' (the kid's not in a gang and the teacher's already been warned about going round calling any group of kids a 'gang' before).

I'm angry that a teacher would do this anyways, but is it even legal?

[SeriouslyMikey]

I don't believe it is. If it's bugging you so much, speak to the headmaster or put in a complaint. 

[Arwanell]

in my country, teacher can take your phone, but he must not do anything on it

[MrIceCremeLollipop]

So apparently, in my school a kid was made to give his phone to a teacher, the teacher then proceeded to go through his phone and copy all his stuff off of it. He did this because there was a fight and the teacher thought he'd have a recording of it or something, the teacher called the kids parents and told them he had been in 'gang related activities' (the kid's not in a gang and the teacher's already been warned about going round calling any group of kids a 'gang' before).

I'm angry that a teacher would do this anyways, but is it even legal?

 

Probably....

[Mug]

idk but it's wrong because that's his posession that he's going through.

 

Let the teachers at your school sort it out. Write a letter to the head about it or something.

[manikyath]

its not the teacher's authority to do that, they are allowed to take the kid's phone, but they arent allowed to do anything with it.

 

in belgium the student is allowed to take out the sim card, storage card, and battery so the device is basicly a dud. the teacher cannot take the student's phone to see what he's doing on it, the teacher can take it to stop the student from using his phone in class. (and the phone has to be given back to the student before the end of the day)

 

if it goes to the point of copying data off of the phone without the student's consent... thats even illegal if the police does it without the right permit.

[Cythraul]

Yeah just write a complaint, they aren't allowed to go through phones (although most get away with it.)

[ben dover kid]

So apparently, in my school a kid was made to give his phone to a teacher, the teacher then proceeded to go through his phone and copy all his stuff off of it. He did this because there was a fight and the teacher thought he'd have a recording of it or something, the teacher called the kids parents and told them he had been in 'gang related activities' (the kid's not in a gang and the teacher's already been warned about going round calling any group of kids a 'gang' before).

I'm angry that a teacher would do this anyways, but is it even legal?

no thats illegal. i would sue the shit out of that teacher tbh, that is wrong. but i know that a high school kid wont do it, too bad. you could get him in real trouble

[manikyath]

Yeah just write a complaint, they aren't allowed to go through phones (although most get away with it.)

one of my teachers got away with giving me bad scores all year without a reason, i was not allowed to complain about it, the school only communicated with parents, and they ensured me i was a shitty student, even though all arguments between me and the teacher ended in the scores being updated to 10/10...

[kameshss]

You gotta complaint it to your Principal or Head

[minibois]

Can't imagine it is, since even the police where I live need to have an actual reason to go into someone's files (on their PC or similar) and have to get approval to be allowed to do this.. So there is no possibility this is allowed

[TheTacoSniper]

My french teacher takes kid's phones who are using it in class and tries to guess the password like 50 times and gets them locked out of their phones for a few hours. She has guessed it right on a few occasions and changed the language to Norwegian. Good fun.

[Shakaza]

In the U.S., I know it's not legal for a teacher(or anyone, really, including the police) to go through your stuff without consent if there isn't reasonable cause to do so. I dunno about laws in the U.K., though...

[Cythraul]

one of my teachers got away with giving me bad scores all year without a reason, i was not allowed to complain about it, the school only communicated with parents, and they ensured me i was a shitty student, even though all arguments between me and the teacher ended in the scores being updated to 10/10...

Jeez, teachers can be so abusive of their power, I've had my fair share of dodgy teachers in the past, best to just keep a tutor informed of what they're doing as much as pos. In my college tutors are just running off without any warning so it's disrupting my education a lot lol and now we have some stupid tutor who thinks taking notes during lectures is bad and all that. But yeah, i'm not surprised why the teachers in my school got locked in storage rooms now :\

[SIGSEGV]

Does anyone have any resources, like something that I can show to a headteacher or something to show that it's illegal?

[WoctorDho]

Doubt that is legal. Guess it is time to start working up the chain. 

[Homicidium]

Taking the phone should be legal, copying data off of the phone is illegal and can only be done by authorities, in this case obviously the police, and I'd definitely contact the principal and inform them about it so they'll take the disciplinary actions. I'd also contact either a lawyer and/or the police and ask if and what can be done.

 

No mercy!

[SeanAngelo]

So apparently, in my school a kid was made to give his phone to a teacher, the teacher then proceeded to go through his phone and copy all his stuff off of it. He did this because there was a fight and the teacher thought he'd have a recording of it or something, the teacher called the kids parents and told them he had been in 'gang related activities' (the kid's not in a gang and the teacher's already been warned about going round calling any group of kids a 'gang' before).

I'm angry that a teacher would do this anyways, but is it even legal?

nah it aint allowed. thats breaking his privacy...

[ForsakenLive]

That's not legal. They can take the phone, but not even look at the data inside it.

 

Does anyone have any resources, like something that I can show to a headteacher or something to show that it's illegal?

The Telegraph has an article based on UK law, which says a teacher can't read through messages contained in the phone; only take it from the student and place it in a safe place.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1548273/What-a-teacher-can-do-and-cant-do.html

It's most likely that if applies to 'reading messages' it also applies to all sort of personal information, like pictures, video, audio files, etc.

For further investigation you should do a little bit of research and see what exact laws talk about this (maybe ask an acquaintance which is well informed in law).

[manikyath]

Jeez, teachers can be so abusive of their power, I've had my fair share of dodgy teachers in the past, best to just keep a tutor informed of what they're doing as much as pos. In my college tutors are just running off without any warning so it's disrupting my education a lot lol and now we have some stupid tutor who thinks taking notes during lectures is bad and all that. But yeah, i'm not surprised why the teachers in my school got locked in storage rooms now :\

in that school students doing stuff to teachers was a very punishable offense. what we usually did was wait for winter, and ambush them with icy snowballs to prove we dont like them.

 

then they banned snowball throwing... punished by expelling...

[dalekphalm]

Does anyone have any resources, like something that I can show to a headteacher or something to show that it's illegal?

This is the best I've found so far:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1548273/What-a-teacher-can-do-and-cant-do.html

 

Q: A pupil alleges that another has been bullying him by text messages.

A: Teachers can confiscate a mobile phone but should not search through text messages without permission.

 

The cause is different (bullying vs an argument), but it specifically states that they should not search through text messages without permission. I would assume this extends to using the phone at all without consent.

 

Obviously consulting a Lawyer would be best, but I'm fairly certain that the teacher would need consent.

FYI, why did the kid not have a passcode on his lock screen?

[SkilledRebuilds]

Make the teacher learn something new.

TO NOT FUCKING INVADE PRIVACY!

If I knew my teacher did that, I'd march up to her and tell her I'm getting out of here, get my phone back and go tell the headmaster, then go home and tell your parents, or tell the headmaster you want him to call your parents to pick you up if thats needed.

 

If she wont give the phone back, then just leave, go straight to your head master or someone similar, explain the situiation and take them with you to go get your phone back.

Plus... REAL authorities should be notified, she's invading privacy of your phone, and possibly other peoples phones she confiscated.

 

If the teacher isn't reprimanded, she'll continue doing it.

[SImoHayha]

Teacher is in the wrong. He can't take data like that. Only take away the phone and keep it. Basically he should've also locked the phone as well, your friend anyway.

[as96]

That's not legal anywhere in the world.

At least how it works here, if you get caught using the phone they can take it until the lesson is over, or in rare cases if you are underage I think they could (not that I've ever seen it done) wait for your parents to come and take it back although even the second is a bit extreme.

And usually they let this kind of things go but even if they take it they have no right what so ever to wiew its content, they could've kept it and asked for his parents but doing this sounds illegal.

 

 

I'd say let it go though, even though you are right you shouldn't get in trouble about it.

[as96]

PS: Do people not use passwords or fingerprint locks? I mean it's highly unsafe.