Security & Compliance

This guide helps institutional IT admins prepare ILS for deployment and operation.

Before Going Live

Essential Deployment Requirements

Environment Setup - [ ] Secure hosting provisioned (EU data center if serving EU schools) - [ ] HTTPS configured (no HTTP) - [ ] Database not publicly accessible (firewall rules) - [ ] Admin interfaces (pgAdmin, SSH) restricted to known IPs only - [ ] SSH key-only authentication configured

Secrets Management - [ ] All environment variables set in production (never from .env files) - [ ] Database password generated (strong, random, 32+ characters) - [ ] Email password configured in secure secret store - [ ] JWT secret generated (256-bit random string, never reused)

Database & Backups - [ ] Database migrations applied on first run - [ ] Automated backups scheduled (minimum daily) - [ ] Backups stored off-server (not on same machine as application) - [ ] Backups encrypted at rest - [ ] Restore test performed on a different server (critical!) - [ ] Restore procedure documented

Monitoring & Alerting - [ ] Uptime monitoring configured (e.g., UptimeRobot) - [ ] Error tracking enabled (e.g., Sentry) - [ ] Disk space alerts configured - [ ] Backup status alerts configured - [ ] Email delivery status monitored

Email Delivery - [ ] SPF, DKIM, DMARC DNS records configured for sending domain - [ ] Test email sent and received successfully - [ ] Verify emails are not landing in spam folders

System Health Dashboard (Admin Page)

After go-live, administrators should check the System Health page daily. This shows:

Operational Status

  • Attendance completion rate today
  • Assignments awaiting grading (oldest first)
  • Students at risk (requires intervention)
  • Teachers with overdue grading (>7 days)

System Status

  • Notification queue health
  • Last backup completion time
  • Email service status
  • Disk usage

Security Status (Last 24 Hours)

  • Failed login attempts
  • Locked accounts
  • Password resets
  • Suspicious activity alerts

Action: If any indicator is red or amber, contact your system administrator immediately.

Data Protection & GDPR Compliance

Your Responsibilities as Data Controller

ILS is a data processor. Your school is the data controller. You are responsible for:

  1. Consent — Ensure students and staff have consented to their data being in ILS
  2. Privacy Policy — Publish how student data is used, stored, and protected
  3. Data Retention — Define how long records are kept (typical: 7 years after graduation)
  4. Data Subject Rights — Be prepared to handle requests to export or delete student data
  5. Incident Response — Have a plan if data is breached or lost

Data Minimization

ILS collects: - ✅ Student name, ID, email, cohort (required for functionality) - ✅ Grades and attendance (core educational data) - ❓ Student photos (requires explicit consent) - ❓ Attendance patterns/analytics (requires consent if used for purposes beyond grading)

Before using behavioral analytics or optional features, ensure you have explicit consent from students/parents.

Data Retention

Recommended retention schedule: - Grades & attendance: 7 years after graduation - Personal data (names, emails): 7 years after graduation - Temporary files (drafts, backups): 30 days

Contact your system administrator to configure retention policies.

Data Export (Right to Portability)

Students and staff can request a complete export of their data from ILS. The export includes: - Grades - Attendance records - Submissions and feedback - Timeline events - All personal data in the system

To request an export: 1. Go to Settings → Data Export 2. Click Request Export 3. The system emails you the exported data within 24 hours

Data Deletion (Right to Erasure)

Students and staff can request deletion of their account and associated data.

Important: Some data may be legally required to retain (BSA decisions, final grades). Deletion requests are reviewed by your administration before processing.

Audit Logs & Grade Integrity

All changes to student records are logged:

  • Grade changes — who changed it, from what value to what value, when, and why
  • Attendance changes — who marked attendance, edit history if modified
  • Role changes — who was promoted/demoted, by whom, when
  • File access — who downloaded which submission file, when

These logs are immutable — they cannot be edited or deleted. They exist to: - Protect teachers from accusations of grade manipulation - Give schools confidence in assessment integrity - Comply with audits and investigations

Accessing logs: Contact your system administrator for audit log reports.

Backup & Disaster Recovery

Recovery Objectives

  • RPO (Recovery Point Objective): Maximum 24 hours of data loss
  • RTO (Recovery Time Objective): Maximum 4 hours to restore to normal operation

Backup Schedule

  • Daily: Full database backup (1:00 AM)
  • Hourly: Incremental transaction log backups
  • Weekly: Verification restore test on separate server

Restore Procedure

If your database is lost or corrupted:

  1. Stop the application (prevent further writes)
  2. Provision a clean server with the same OS and PostgreSQL version
  3. Restore the latest backup (IT admin procedure)
  4. Verify data — check that students, classes, and grades are present
  5. Restart the application
  6. Run a test — log in and verify core workflows work

Time required: 1–4 hours depending on database size

Contact your system administrator for full restore procedures.

Security Best Practices for Your School

For All Users

  • ✅ Use a strong, unique password (12+ characters, mixed case, numbers, symbols)
  • ✅ Never share your login credentials
  • ✅ Log out when leaving a computer
  • ✅ Report suspicious activity to your IT admin

For Teachers & Coordinators

  • ✅ Verify student submissions are authentic (check timestamps, metadata)
  • ✅ Review grade history if a student's score seems unusual
  • ✅ Use the audit logs to demonstrate due diligence for high-stakes decisions

For Administrators

  • ✅ Monitor failed login attempts (System Health dashboard)
  • ✅ Review access logs if sensitive data access is questioned
  • ✅ Enforce password changes annually
  • ✅ Archive or delete accounts when staff/students leave
  • ✅ Test backups quarterly

Incident Response

If Something Goes Wrong

Data Loss / Corruption 1. Contact system administrator immediately 2. Do NOT attempt to restore without IT support 3. System will restore from latest backup (24-hour window)

Security Breach / Unauthorized Access 1. Contact system administrator 2. System will investigate audit logs to determine what was accessed and by whom 3. Affected individuals will be notified

System Unavailable / Down 1. Check System Health dashboard 2. Contact system administrator if status shows system is down 3. ETA for recovery will be provided

Email Not Working 1. Check that SPF/DKIM records are configured 2. Check email firewall/antivirus is not blocking 3. Send a test email from ILS (Settings → Send Test Email)

Contact & Support

System Administrator: [Your contact here]
Email Support: [support email]
Emergency Hotline: [phone number]

Last Updated: 2026-06-27
Version: 1.0 (Pilot Readiness)