The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is a new law promulgated by the European Union. It will take effect on May 25, 2018. The GDPR governs the storage and use of the personal data of EU citizens, or of anyone’s data by companies and organizations in the EU. It introduces stringent new requirements for the handling of such data, including giving people the right to request the deletion of their data.

Does this law affect my school?

We are not lawyers and this does not constitute legal advice. Based on discussions at the Centre College Hack/Doc and elsewhere, we suspect that the practical effect of the GDPR on our institutions would be limited. If you haven’t already, you should ensure that college counsel is aware of the law.

What is Moodle HQ doing?

Moodle HQ has announced a plan for supporting the GDPR and is publishing a guide for site administrators. Development work is in progress for supporting the GDPR. This includes creating a new Privacy API so that plugin developers may bring their plugins into compliance as well.

What is CLAMP doing?

Members of CLAMP’s Development Committee are following the progress of the discussions within Moodle HQ. At least one CLAMP-maintained plugin, CLAMPMail, stores private data and will be modified for GDPR compliance. When Moodle HQ releases new versions of Moodle which support GDPR compliance, CLAMP will release new versions of the Liberal Arts Edition within one week of that release which incorporate those changes.