Pasting a class list into a chatbot to “make a seat plan,” uploading a photo of a quiz with the names showing, typing a learner’s situation into an AI to get advice: each feels harmless, and each sends a child’s personal information to a company you have no agreement with. Most teachers who do this are trying to save time, not break rules. The rules are just rarely explained.
This guide explains what Philippine law and DepEd policy say about student data and AI, and gives a practical routine that keeps the time savings without the risk. It is not legal advice; for your school’s specific obligations, ask your data protection officer.
The 10-second answer: Do not put learner names, LRNs, photos, or personal circumstances into AI tools. DepEd Order No. 15, s. 2026 prohibits entering personal learner data or official DepEd documents into AI platforms (Sec. 37). Strip identifiers first, use tools that do this for you, and keep the real names in your own records.
What the rules say
The Data Privacy Act
Republic Act No. 10173, the Data Privacy Act of 2012, governs how personal information is collected, used, stored, and shared, and the National Privacy Commission enforces it. Learners’ names, ID numbers, photos, grades, and family or health information are personal information, and some of it is sensitive. Processing it requires a legitimate purpose and proportionate use. Sending it to a third-party AI service is a disclosure, and a teacher usually has no basis for it.
DepEd policy
- DO 15, s. 2026, Sec. 37: teachers shall not input personal learner data or official DepEd documents into AI platforms.
- DO 15, s. 2026, Sec. 61: digital grading records are stored in official DepEd systems, networks, or authorized drives, with access controlled and logged.
- DO 16, s. 2026 on lesson planning sets out prohibited, limited, and guided uses of AI (Sec. 25), and does not allow fully AI-generated lesson plans (Sec. 23).
- DO 3, s. 2026 is DepEd’s foundational guidelines on artificial intelligence in basic education. Read it for the wider framework your school follows.
What counts as personal learner data
| Personal data (keep out of AI) | Usually safe to share |
|---|---|
| Names, nicknames, LRNs, student numbers | The competency, topic, and grade level |
| Photos, including answer sheets with names visible | Your own teaching materials |
| Grades tied to a name | Anonymous class statistics (“12 of 40 missed item 5”) |
| Family, health, disability, or behaviour details | A general description with no identifiers (“some learners read below grade level”) |
| Addresses, contact numbers, parents’ names | A made-up example you wrote yourself |
A useful test: if the text would let someone identify a specific child, it stays out.
A safe routine
- Strip before you paste. Replace names with “Learner A,” “Learner B.” Remove LRNs entirely.
- Crop or cover before you upload. An answer sheet photo should show answers, not the name box.
- Describe, do not identify. “A learner who is new to the language of instruction” gives an AI enough to help, without identifying anyone.
- Keep the key yourself. Your own records map Learner A back to the real name. The AI never sees the key.
- Prefer tools that protect data by design. A tool that strips identifiers automatically is safer than a routine you have to remember at eleven at night.
- Check the tool’s retention. How long it keeps uploads, and whether it uses them for training.
AI and grading
DO 15 also limits what AI may decide. Evaluating learner outputs without teacher validation and determining final grades are not jobs to hand to AI. Use AI to speed up checking, then review every score yourself. Our guide to checking test papers faster covers methods that keep you in control, and what AI gets wrong when writing test items covers the review you still need before a test reaches learners.
How Skoolari handles this
Skoolari’s DepEd tools were changed to follow Sec. 37. The Auto-Checker covers the name area of each answer-sheet photo before it is sent to the AI, and shows you exactly what the AI received. In ILAW lesson planning, your learner context is never sent to the AI. The class record, report card, and Grade 1 PACE pages make no AI calls at all. Photographed answer sheets are deleted after 90 days, and grade records stay in your account. As DO 15 Sec. 61 requires, keep your official records where your school requires. See the plans.
Related reading: our honest map of AI tools for Filipino teachers, the DepEd Electronic Class Record versus a class record app, and removing identifiers from work samples in a course portfolio.