Data Protection Officer

Frequently Asked Questions

Can a professor publish my first and last name along with my grade?

It is true that in today's society, receiving a bad grade is considered a problem, when in fact it is normal for everyone to get a poor grade in some subject at some point in their academic career. Traditionally, the best results were displayed as a way of rewarding excellence. Whether for this reason or another, the fact is that our regulations allow for the publication of student grades. This is stated in section 3 of the Twenty-first additional provision (entitled "Protection of personal data") of Organic Law 4/2007, of April 12, amending Organic Law 6/2001, of December 21, on Universities; which expressly provides that "The consent of students will not be required for the publication of the results of the tests related to the evaluation of their knowledge and skills or of the acts that are necessary for the proper performance and monitoring of said evaluation.".

However, it is true that, as a good practice, the scope of knowledge of these ratings should be limited to those interested in the correctness of the evaluation procedure, those who can assess whether there is correct action, therefore my recommendation to the teaching staff that they publish it on the virtual campus.

Publication of ID cards

The national identity card receives special treatment in the Additional Provision 7 of the LOPDGDD. The Spanish Data Protection Agency has carried out some recommendations Regarding its application. Taking all of this into account, it follows that:

  1. It can't be done and Publishing the ID card number along with the name and surnames is prohibited.;
  2. If publishing the ID card is not essential (neither does the rule require it nor is there any doubt as to whom the list refers; there are no duplicates) Please publish only your first and last name. To avoid duplicates, it is preferable to use an internal code, such as alu, but not the staff number or any other code that incorporates the ID number (when using the alu code, we will limit ourselves to its last four digits, not using the whole number to avoid revealing the email address; in LibreCalc, and assuming that the complete alu code 'alu0123456789@ull.edu.es' or 'alu0123456789' is in position A1, in B1 you would write:

    =MIDBE(A1,10,4)
  3. It is necessary to publish the ID card along with the name and surnames (the regulations of the specific procedure so require), refer to only four random digits. To obtain these digits, you can enter the ID number and/or list of ID numbers into a spreadsheet and apply the following formula (tested in LibreCalc, from LibreOffice): assuming the ID number is in position A1, in B1 you would write:

    =MID(A1,RANDBETWEEN(1,5),4)

    Remember to save your data and search within it to avoid generating multiple codes for the same person, which could make it difficult to reconstruct their ID card. The Spanish Data Protection Agency's (AEPD) solution is temporary, so pending any changes or clarifications to the seventh additional provision, it is recommended to update any stored data that is four years old.
  4. As for this last reason It is preferable to centralize the truncation, to generate the same codes throughout the ULL; the previous step is recommended. request it from STIC, This follows the Spanish Data Protection Agency's (AEPD) recommendation to adjust the randomness of the selection by institution, and while complying with the regulation and its objective of hindering user profiling, it minimizes the possibility of DNI (Spanish National Identity Document) verification. For any questions go to the STIC.

Publication of grades (exams, practicals, etc.)

All publications that form part of an administrative file (and student grades are part of an administrative file that culminates in the awarding of a degree, whether a bachelor's, master's, doctorate, etc.) must be made electronically. Furthermore, all notifications to students must be made electronically, and grades, in particular, are published to guarantee, among other things, the transparency and quality of teaching. The platform (linkIt allows the publication of final grades, while for partial exam grades, a publication method that reaches all students is necessary. Until a notice board is enabled for this purpose or the portal is adapted for the publication of intermediate grades (not limited to final grade reports), It is recommended to publish the list on the Virtual Campus, generating a PDF that, to comply with the requirements of an administrative document, must be signed before being published using the institutional signature holder (only accessible from the ULL network, or by connecting to it via VPN). When, as in this case, a single document of the different types offered by the institutional signature platform is uploaded, you must generate and download the one called "PAdES copy".

For more information on grade publication, please refer to this report.

Use of ULL information by its staff (example: professor regarding the telephone numbers of his students)

– General situation:

The information provided to you contains personal data. You must only use this information for the purposes described in the Record of Processing Activities, and only insofar as the processing is relevant to your relationship with the ULL. You must use the data ensuring that it is not accessible to unauthorized persons (e.g., be careful with data on USB drives, mobile phones or non-institutional personal computers) and you are prohibited from transferring data to third parties, unless such transfers are provided for in the processing itself (this includes data hosting such as Dropbox, transmissions such as WhatsApp, and of course social networks).

– I am a professor and I need my students' phone numbers. Can the University provide them to me?

Yes, as a professor, you may use the phone number to call the student for any academic matters, using the University's phone lines. Under no circumstances may you use the phone number to contact students on social media platforms that use this code as a user identifier, unless you are familiar with the data protection policy of that platform and can reasonably be confident that user profiles will not be created with the collected information. Otherwise, you would be transferring data to that platform, an unauthorized transfer, and for purposes other than those for which the ULL (University of La Laguna) uses it, including the creation of user profiles for marketing and trend analysis.

– But in my project I need to use instant messaging, and for the students to have the possibility of using it among themselves.

If you need to use an instant messaging system with your students, look for a reliable Jabber service provider, or use the service offered by the ULL's OSL.

Frequently asked questions published by the AEPD

It is also recommended to see the section on Frequently asked questions from the website of the Spanish Data Protection Agency.