UK: Pupils should learn about privacy and information rights at school, the UK’s data protection watchdog has said.

The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) said that it was important for children to learn about data privacy and freedom of information (FOI) rights, and that both “should be embedded in the formal education process”.

The ICO is responsible for ensuring organisations comply with UK data protection laws, FOI laws and regulations on privacy and electronic communications. It said that it was imperative that children learned about privacy after revealing the details of research into the use of social networks by students.

A survey of more than 4,000 young people showed that 88% of secondary school students and 39% of primary school pupils have a social networking site profile, the ICO said. Most respondents had not read the sites’ privacy policies, almost a third did not know what one was, and nearly a quarter said they did not know where to find the information, it said.