Choosing privacy-first classroom tools: a checklist for teachers

Student names are personal data. Seven questions to ask of any classroom website before you type a register into it, and what good answers look like.

Why a class list is more sensitive than it looks

A register of thirty first names and surnames is personal data under the GDPR, the UK GDPR, FERPA in the United States and most equivalent laws elsewhere. It identifies children, it is held by an institution, and it is subject to rules the individual teacher rarely wrote. Typing it into a free website is a data transfer, even when it feels like a small convenience.

That does not mean avoiding online tools. It means asking a short set of questions first, and knowing what a good answer sounds like.

The seven questions

1. Does the data leave the device at all?

This is the question that makes the other six easier. A tool that processes everything client-side — in the browser, with no upload — never creates a copy on someone else's server. There is no breach to disclose, no retention schedule to check, no transfer agreement to sign. Our wheel spinner works this way: names typed on the wheel are handled by JavaScript on your machine and are never transmitted to us.

2. Is an account required?

Accounts create profiles, profiles create records, and records need managing. A tool that works without a login is structurally simpler to approve. If an account is required, ask what happens to it when the teacher leaves the school.

3. What does the privacy policy actually say?

Look for three specifics rather than reassuring adjectives: what categories of data are collected, how long they are kept, and who they are shared with. Vague phrases like "we take your privacy seriously" carry no commitment. A policy that names its third parties — hosting, fonts, analytics — is telling you something useful. Ours is at privacy policy.

4. Are there trackers or advertising?

Open the site with your browser's developer tools on the network tab. Ad networks, social pixels and session recorders all show up as third-party requests. A classroom tool that loads a dozen advertising domains is quietly putting your students in someone's audience segment.

5. Where is the data stored, and under whose law?

If data does leave the device, storage location matters for European and UK schools in particular. Ask which country the servers are in and what transfer mechanism applies.

6. Can you get the data out — and delete it?

Export and deletion should be self-service. On a client-side tool this is trivial: clearing your browser data removes everything, and a "download list" button gives you your own copy.

7. Who approved it?

Most schools have an approved-tools process and a data protection lead. Two minutes of email before a term of use beats a retrospective conversation.

Practical habits that reduce risk

• Use first names plus an initial. "Daniel H." works for a name wheel and is far less identifying than a full legal name. It also reads better from the back of the room, as noted in our classroom guide.
• Avoid extra fields. A wheel needs names. It does not need dates of birth, email addresses or student ID numbers, so do not paste a spreadsheet column that contains them.
• Clear shared machines. On a staffroom or classroom computer, clear the browser data at the end of the session so the next user does not see your list.
• Prefer tools that work offline. If a page keeps working with the network disconnected, it is a strong signal that nothing is being sent anywhere.

How this site answers its own checklist

To be concrete: no account, no advertising or tracking cookies, no analytics pixels, no upload of wheel entries, and one third-party request for a web font stylesheet. Your list is stored in your browser's local storage so it survives a refresh, and clearing site data erases it. The FAQ covers this in short form and the privacy policy in full.

Once the privacy question is settled, the interesting part is the teaching. Ten ways to raise classroom participation has the routines worth building around a wheel.