EdLaw
Nordrhein-Westfalen — Schuldatenschutz (SchulG NRW §§ 120–122)
The data-protection core of the Schulgesetz für das Land Nordrhein-Westfalen: pupil/parent data (§ 120), staff data (§ 121) and the supplementary rules with the regulation-making power behind the VO-DV I/II ordinances (§ 122). NRW is the third-largest German Land by our subscriber base (23 of 150 mapped active subscriptions — allocation in tools/subscriber-split/).
Fact text is German (authentic language); this README is curation.
Applicability to EdTech
- § 120(5) is the digital-tools basis: schools may process pupil and parent data "für den Einsatz digitaler Lehr- und Lernmittel" where required for the school's tasks; the same applies to "Lehr- und Lernsystemen und Arbeits- und Kommunikationsplattformen einschließlich Videokonferenzsystemen", and within that frame pupils are obliged to use them (§ 120(5)) — usable without individual consent, which is the operationally decisive point for platform deployments in NRW.
- Task-necessity plus enumerated transfers: the general basis in § 120(1); duty to provide required data, other data only with voluntary consent, no disadvantage for refusal, and capable minors consenting themselves — all in § 120(2); the transfer whitelist (schools, supervision, Schulträger, health/youth authorities, …) in § 120(7).
- Tests and surveys have their own gates: standardised school-entry tests in § 120(3), other scientific studies/tests/surveys — anonymity preserved, participation voluntary, Schulleitung decides — in § 120(4).
- Teacher data mirrors the pupil rules, including the digital-tools/platform basis with mandatory use (§ 121(1)).
- § 122 carries the ordinance powers under which the operational detail lives — VO-DV I for pupil data, VO-DV II for staff data, both now extracted at vo-dv/ (§ 122(4)).
Contents
| Document | Covers |
|---|---|
| DATENSCHUTZ.md | SchulG NRW §§ 120–122 — Schülerdaten, Personaldaten, ergänzende Regelungen |
Scope note: the operational layer — VO-DV I (with its three Anlagen) and VO-DV II — is extracted at vo-dv/; the Schulministerium's Datenschutz guidance remains on demand.
Key obligations at a glance
- School processing bounded to statutory tasks; access restricted to those who need the data (§ 120(1)–(2)).
- Digital teaching/learning tools, platforms and videoconferencing covered by the express basis in § 120(5); audio/video recordings of lessons need voluntary consent (§ 120(6)).
- Consent must be voluntary and refusal must carry no disadvantage; capable minors can consent themselves (§ 120(2)).
Enforcement
Landesbeauftragte für Datenschutz und Informationsfreiheit NRW (LDI NRW) supervises the schools; the vendor's own processing answers to the Land DPA of its establishment under BDSG § 40.
Licence
The corpus reproduces §§ 120–122 of the Schulgesetz NRW from the BASS 2026/2027 (Bereinigte Amtliche Sammlung der Schulvorschriften).
German copyright law places statutes and ordinances outside copyright. § 5 Abs. 1 Urheberrechtsgesetz (gesetze-im-internet.de — UrhG § 5, read 2026-10-01) provides: "Gesetze, Verordnungen, amtliche Erlasse und Bekanntmachungen sowie Entscheidungen und amtlich verfaßte Leitsätze zu Entscheidungen genießen keinen urheberrechtlichen Schutz."
The corpus takes the text from the BASS, the school ministry's own collection. Its Impressum (bass.schule.nrw/Home/Impressum, read 2026-10-01) names the Ministerium für Schule und Bildung des Landes Nordrhein-Westfalen as provider and contains a liability disclaimer and no terms restricting reuse. The pages carry the footer "© 2026 Ministerium für Schule und Bildung des Landes Nordrhein-Westfalen", a notice on the website that cannot create copyright in texts § 5 Abs. 1 UrhG excludes. The "(Fn N)" marks kept in the text are BASS amendment references, not creative text.
Conditions: none attach to the statute text, because no copyright subsists in it. The corpus still identifies its source: each fact document names its source in its opening citation line and in its Meta section, and Sources here links the official text (the BASS). The changes (the selection of provisions, the Markdown layout and the added anchors) are described in Meta. The corpus does not claim that the publisher endorses it, and only the officially promulgated text is authentic.
Related
- VO-DV I and VO-DV II — the ordinances under § 122(4): the data catalogue, the logging limit, private devices, transfers and retention
- BDSG — the vendor-side federal act
- Niedersachsen NSchG and Bayern BayEUG — sibling Land regimes; NRW and NI both have express digital-tool clauses, Bavaria works through task-necessity plus the state IT chain
- EU GDPR