onebillion prioritises each child’s best interests in all matters. Children’s digital rights inform all our decisions regarding data.
As a UK-based charity, onebillion operates within a strict legal and ethical framework designed to protect those we serve, particularly when they are vulnerable children. The UK GDPR has extraterritorial scope and governs our data processing activities regardless of where children using onecourse are located.
Because we operate in contexts where informed consent for personal data collection often cannot be given to the standard required under GDPR, it is a fundamental requirement of onecourse that it does not collect children’s personal data or make use of personal data.
Under UK GDPR, the principle of data minimization requires that personal data processed must be adequate, relevant, and limited to what is necessary. We design EdTech that uses the minimum necessary anonymous data to achieve the goal of joyful and effective learning, and ensure that each piece of data has been thoroughly evaluated as necessary to improve the child’s experience.
For research projects with accredited research partners, we do support the collection of restricted personal data which has undergone a rigorous ethics procedure and is undertaken in situations where informed consent can be obtained.
onecourse operates offline, with no personal login: it is designed for any child to begin a learning session, regardless of their level of digital literacy.
This means that onecourse delivers quality learning to each child without bias from assumptions or profiles.
onecourse is a model of data minimization. It collects carefully selected, anonymous data at the tablet level only - such as session duration, tablet usage over time, and overall progress (not related to any particular child). These data points are vetted as necessary to enable us and our partners to continually improve both implementation and the child’s learning experience.
It means we don’t collect any personal data from children. We don’t make use of any personal data collected by other organisations. And we don’t provide any anonymous data to organisations who intend to attach it to personal data.
It means that every anonymous data point we collect has a well-articulated rationale behind it, so that we are not collecting data speculatively.
It means that every learning experience we provide for the child has been created and curated by a human with a sound understanding of pedagogy and child development.
It means we commit to always putting the child’s rights above everything else.