The Language Business

Truth will triumph (continued)

The Information Commissioner has rapped British Council knuckles over the loss of staff data in January, reported here. If you look at how the matter was reported by the British Council in January, you could be forgiven for thinking that it was a very minor matter as it refers to “an extract of our payroll information”, “a routine monthly report”. But now we see that what was lost was a great deal more, and more sensitive, than that.

And, as ITPRO tells us today, it wasn’t encrypted. This is an excerpt from the agreement that the British Council has been required to sign:
The data controller did not take its own measures to safeguard the personal data it held on the disc, and in particular failed to ensure that the data was protected by the Government minimum standard of encryption. The Commissioner has taken into account the fact that the personal data in question related to trade union membership and bank account details, and could therefore potentially result in significant distress being caused to the individuals concerned.

The full text will be found here. The truth triumphs, and this time it took only about three months.

YouTube Fest

These are the most recent videos to be posted on The Blackie Report, here embedded from YouTube. Strictly for those interested in language schools.

1. Here Judith Hands, Managing Director of Torquay International School, talks about accommodation options and specifically her recent acquisition of the "Everglades Hotel", just across the road from the main school buildings.

2. In this video Michael, a senior Business English teacher at TIS, talks about teaching corporate clients.

3. JP, a true professional, talks about his work as social manager at TIS. It is people like JP who turn an English language course into a rich and enjoyable experience, socially and culturally.

4. If you don't speak Japanese, you may not get far here! This was an experimental interview with a Japanese student whereby I asked the questions in English and she graciously replied in Japanese.

5. This is an interview with Grace, one of the two directors of CELT - Centre for English Language Teaching Ltd in Cardiff.

6. Here Joaquin from Elche in Spain talks about the role he plays in supplying students to CELT. An agent? No, more of a professional friend.

7. Four students - one from France, one from Saudi and two from Colombia - talk about their aspirations and how their school is helping them.

8. And finally Andrew, a teacher with responsibility for the IELTS course at CELT, talks about preparing students for that test.