Selected Legal Issues in Online Adult Education: Compliance of Online Learning and Teaching Process with GDPR

Abstract

COVID-19 has had a major influence on the educational system. Since March 2020, the majority of teaching and learning has taken place online, including in the adult education sector. At the same time, the speedy transformation to the online mode has raised various legal issues, particularly regarding data protection, intellectual property rights, and compliance with the national legal framework. This article aims to analyse the compliance of online learning and teaching in adult education programmes with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and, on the basis of that, make recommendations to adult education entities that offer online teaching and learning process. To achieve the aim, the author uses the following research methods: a doctrinal research method, a scientific literature review, and a survey. As a result, the author identifies various legal issues regarding personal data protection during recording online teaching and learning, such as compliance with the GDPR requirements during online lecturing, compliance of e-platform providers with the GDPR, unauthorised access, data loss, and cyberattacks.