The Andalusian Transparency and Data Protection Council has called upon the regional government, led by the Popular Party (PP), to enhance guarantees and safeguards regarding the personal data of 738,502 minor students, alongside 43,202 teachers and 2,676 educational centers whose profiles are managed by Google through its virtual educational platform, Workplace for Education. While the institution acknowledged that student data can be processed in countries outside the European Union owing to a written commitment from the multinational, it emphasized that the current measures are in the right direction but still require improvements.

For five consecutive years, the Andalusian Government has been found to have breached the data protection rights of non-university students and educators by failing to comply with the European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), leading to six sanctions for the regional administration. The insistence by the Data Protection authority highlights serious concerns over data privacy, particularly as it involves vulnerable groups like minors. The ongoing issues call into question the effectiveness of the current framework in safeguarding essential personal information of students and educators in the region.

As the Andalusian government prepares to design a new agreement, which is expected to be signed in November, these developments underline the critical need for improved oversight and regulatory compliance to prevent further breaches. The outcome of this inquiry and the subsequent adjustments to the data sharing framework may set a precedent for future dealings with tech companies in the education sector and their responsibilities towards student privacy in Spain and beyond.