Questions & Answers
Can schools search the phones of students without consent?
Dear Sir/Madam,
Some friends went to a party and got drunk, even though they are all underage.
Now, one of them posted a TikTok at school, and the head of the secondary school went through their phones, finding pictures of the party and all of them drinking.
Is it legal for the school to go through their phones and then threaten to report them to the authorities?
Dear Questioner,
If the head of the school took the phones from them, went through the phones, and searched them without their consent, it is against the law.
Dear questioner,
The director or anyone else does not have the right to search the student’s mobile phone, and the student has the right to refrain from giving out the password.
If it’s already shared on social media networks, the school has the right to raise the complaint to the authorities against the student but they don’t have the right to check his cellphone.
