It was last January that the teacher felt worried about a student who was having suicidal thoughts and was going to write to a colleague in Teams, but instead happened to notify the whole class in a joint chat. According to the indictment, the message disclosed information that the teacher was obliged to keep secret.
In the interrogation protocol, the teacher says that stress and a lack of knowledge about the technology caused the message to end up in the wrong place and that it only took a few minutes before there was a reply from the colleague:
“Delete the message, you have written in the class chat.”
The teacher says she completely panicked, deleted the message and replied “SORRY” and “DAMMIT WHAT GOT WRONG” in the chat, but the damage was already done.
To be sent encrypted
According to the police’s notes, the student was at a psychologist’s visit, but was able to see the message when looking at the mobile phone and the class chat. Before the incident, only a few friends knew that the student was unwell, but the mistake led to the information spreading to the class and others at the school.
According to the student’s mother, who reported the incident to the police, the principal has said that the school’s policy is that information like this should only be sent via the school’s encrypted email and never via Teams or in open forums.
Do you not have routines when it comes to communicating sensitive information at school?
– Yes, we have – but we will not comment further on the case until it has been decided in court, says Christer Carlsson, head of administration at the Children and Education Administration in Håbo municipality.
The affected student is now requesting SEK 20,000 in damages.