On this page, you can read more about what you as a teacher should be particularly aware of in relation to GDPR when you stream or record classes and make them accessible for students in Brightspace and Panopto.
Brightspace is AU’s new learning platform, where all courses have their own closed course forum. As a teacher, you can upload recorded videos to this closed course forum in Brightspace. You can also embed videos that have been uploaded to AU’s new video platform, Panopto, which is integrated with Brightspace. Read more about Brightspace.
Panopto is AU's new video platform, which makes it easier to use videos for teaching purposes. Via Panopto, teaching staff can securely and easily record and share video material from their own computers, and engage students in the videos via quizzes and debates. Panopto has been integrated with Brightspace, which means that video material from Panopto can be embedded in the course forums in Blackboard.
Panopto also makes it possible to record and stream classes from large lecture rooms and theatres (see the list of rooms). Read more about Panopto.
If you, as a teacher, stream and/or record teaching and you are the only person who appears in the video, it is entirely up to you how the material is used, and you do not need to obtain consent from the students. If the recording includes other material – for example, images, slides or text extracts – you must take into account any relevant copyright regulations. For more information on the teacher’s rights of disposal, please refer to the university’s agreement on copyright for teaching materials. Read more about copyright.
If the recording of the class is uploaded to – or streamed in – the relevant closed course forum in Brightspace, which only you and the students on the course can access, you do not need to obtain consent from the students in order to stream or record the class. However, you may not make the recordings available to anyone other than the course participants in the course forum in Brightspace.
In order to comply with GDPR rules, as a teacher, you must always inform your students that the class is being recorded. You can do this by leaving a message on the front page of the course forum in Brightspace, where you must also include a standard text to inform the students about the recording. If the course is designed to include the recording and streaming of teaching, this must be stated in the course description.
When streaming or recording classes in which people other than you appear, you must always consider the following:
As a teacher, you must be able to explain why it is relevant to stream/record your classes and to describe the academic objectives of doing so. Here are some examples:
You must consider whether your recording/streaming contains sensitive, confidential or ordinary personal data about the students on the course or other people. As a general rule, a person’s image or voice counts as ordinary personal data, while health information (for example) counts as sensitive personal data (see the types of personal data). Please also be aware that students might unintentionally disclose sensitive personal data, for example in the course’s chat function.
If your recording/streaming contains sensitive personal data, you should consider editing it out of the recording. You are very welcome to contact Educational Law if you have any questions about this.
If you plan to use personal data (images/sound) from somebody external to the course during your teaching – for example, in connection with a patient case – you must have express consent from the person in question. This consent must also include consent to stream/record the class – and it must be obtained before the class takes place.
If the academic regulations require that students demonstrate active participation through presentations, you must consider whether it is necessary to stream or record the class while the students are presenting. If it is not necessary, the recording must be paused during student presentations. Otherwise, you must be able to explain why it is necessary to record and upload presentations to the closed course forum in Brightspace.
As a general rule, all class recordings/streaming should be placed in the course forum in Brightspace. If you wish to make the streaming or the recording of a class available outside the course forum in Brightspace or Panopto and the class contains identifiable students, you will need active consent from the students. If consent is not obtained, it is not possible to use the material outside the course forum.
Anyone who has consented to participate in streaming or a recording may withdraw their consent at any time. If a recording of the class is available outside the class course forum in Brightspace or Panopto, you must remove the relevant recording if consent is withdrawn.
| Requirement to obtain consent | Requirement to delete recording | |
|---|---|---|
| Recordings of the teacher only | No | No |
| Recordings of other people, but uploaded in the class course forum in Brightspace or in Panopto. | No | Delete after the end of the semester |
| Recordings of other people, but available outside the class course forum in Brightspace or Panopto. | Yes | Delete if consent is withdrawn |
At the end of the semester, AU is obliged to delete recordings in the course forum in Brightspace. Recordings will be deleted automatically after nine months once they have been placed in the correct folder in Brightspace. If consent has been given for the recording to be used or if there are no people in the recording, there is no requirement to delete the recording.
The teacher can always edit, correct and delete teaching material in a course forum in Brightspace. As a teacher, you are entitled to do this without further consent in the relevant course forum during the current semester. However, please consult the university’s agreement on copyright for teaching materials.
If you wish to reuse your recordings across classes or year groups, you must obtain the consent of the students who appear on the recordings.
Students may neither record classes nor share their teacher’s recordings of classes from a course forum in Brightspace or Panopto without consent from the teacher and fellow students.
Recording or sharing classes by students without consent is a breach of the university's rules and regulations and a violation of teachers’ copyrights. Breaches of the rules and regulations are handled in accordance with AU's disciplinary rules.
Here you will find a suggested standard text for the students about recording and streaming, which you can put on the front page of the course forum in Brightspace:
Some or all of the classes in this course will be recorded/streamed. This is to ensure that all course participants have access to teaching and that the teaching offered is flexible, modern and up to date. The processing of personal data will take place on the basis of Article 6(1)(e) of the General Data Protection Regulation. The recording/streaming must not be shared with anyone other than the course teacher(s) and course students, and the recording will only be available in this closed course forum, unless all of those who appear on the recording (data subjects) have given their consent for it to be posted elsewhere. The recording will be available until the semester has ended and the exam has taken place, and it will be deleted automatically after nine months, unless all of those who appear on the recording have given their consent for it to remain longer. Data subjects (students) have the right to access their personal data and may withdraw their consent at any time. Data subjects (students) have the right to complain to the Danish Data Protection Agency.
Data controller:
Aarhus University
Nordre Ringgade 1
8000 Aarhus C
AU’s Data Protection Officer:
dpo@au.dk