The Information on Results of Exams and the General Data Protection Regulation of EU

The purpose of this article is to present aspects of European data protection law relevant for the information on results of students’ exams.

In the daily practice, universities use different ways to inform students about their results, obtained during tests and exams. But there are important aspects of modern legislation on data protection. As the European Court recently decided, these results are personal data, therefore, data protection law has to be applied. The analysis shows, that some ways, how universities inform about the results, face legal questions. This counts even more, as during the period of the shutdown during the pandemic, online lessons and online exams have been introduced; the way, these technics have been used, is – cum grano salis – the continuation of the traditional methods of publication of results of exams. But online-lessons and exams require additional steps and a different level of caution.

This situation raised many questions; answers were not always at hand due to the complicated legal situation. The reactions of universities concerned most of all the compliance with the national legislation on data protection. In this context it must be underlined, that the examples from EC member states must be considered under the data protection directive from 2016, in force since May 2018. The mentioned decision on the topic “publication of results of exams” by the European Court was made in 2017, also only a few years ago. That means, the situation is governed by a new legal basis and an extraordinary challenge.

As the few publications show, there is an urgent need to deal with all these questions. The German ombudsmen for the protection of personal data published recommendations but also the assessment, that in this field exist still a large number of unsolved questions. Therefore, the purpose of this article is not – and cannot be – the solution of all questions and problems; the purpose is to highlight the very questions and thus stimulate further scientific discussion and practical steps by universities. Online-education will be an import instrument for education, therefore the questions, raised in this article must be in the focus of all, involved in the process of higher education.