What are the laws regarding internet privacy and schools?

[Seizure]

Recently, the school that I go to has decided that they will monitor students' posts on social networking platforms, such as Facebook, but the majority of this monitoring has been going on on Twitter. The school has been going through students' tweets and punishing them (including myself) for posts related to the school (e.g. negative remarks regarding the school) and sometimes posts not related to the school (e.g. joking about a person who used to attend the school or currently attends the school). The school has not announced that they would be doing this, neither have they asked the permission of our parents or even making us sign an agreement to them doing this, this is considering that the vast majority of people the school has been monitoring are under 18. We all feel very invaded on and feel that we can no longer utilise social networking sites with the freedom that we used to.

I was just wondering if anybody knew the laws in the UK regarding whether schools can go through students' social networks or what limitations there are if they are allowed, taking into account the information that I have given you.

Thanks in advance.

[Paul Jackson]

As a policy I think it is a stupid waste of time, but legally you have no expectation of privacy for comments you post on the WWW.

[Kenneth]

Once you post something online it is available for public viewing and you have no expectation of privacy.

They don't need anyone's permission to see or read what you post online that is available for anyone to see. Don't like it? Then don't post stuff online that you don't want the school to see.

[Jon]

Since the material is in public view, the school staff can read it just like anyone else can.

The school is certainly within its rights to punish pupils for posting rude comments about teachers or other pupils, but if it stopped pupils making fair and accurate comment which was unflattering to the school (e.g. if someone truthfully posted that bullying was common as the staff failed to keep order, or that the roof leaked) that would be much more open to challenge.

[Who]

facebook twitter etc are public areas, the information on them is NOT your personal property.

That means ANYBODY can read them.
Nobody needs your permission or anybody elses, or tell you that they are doing it.

Having read them they can do whatever they like with the information

Its a shame that people using these sites dont appear to grasp these simple basic facts