Due to data protection concerns, many schools will have to stop using Teams in the coming school year.
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Teams proved to be saviors in need in the corona crisis, but must now abdicate.
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Teams, Microsoft’s software for video conferencing, proved to be a savior in the corona crisis. The software enabled home schooling with a video image. But that could soon be over: Schools in Rhineland-Palatinate will no longer be allowed to use Microsoft software for video conferences from next year. The Ministry of Education gave concerns about data protection as the reason. As a result, all schools in the state will probably have to do without teams.
Baden-Württemberg sees it similarly
Teams is still used by 228 of the 1,600 schools in Rhineland-Palatinate. The RLP school campus has been an alternative since 2021. Baden-Württemberg is taking a similar approach and will ban the use of teams and Office 365 from the coming school year.
Knight in shining armor
The transfer of data to the USA in particular is a thorn in the side of data protection officers. Since the data of children in particular must be particularly well protected, further use is not possible. In addition, the state data protection officer cannot predict whether, in the medium term, there will be data protection-compliant options for using software that does not come from Europe at German schools. Until then, schools will need to focus on using free, open-source solutions or state-specific platforms. It remains to be seen how other federal states will react. As a savior in need, teams were still able to make home schooling possible during the corona crisis, which was not yet possible with the established platforms at the time.
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