Children's data protection

YouTube in the classroom, without exposing your pupils' data.

When a pupil opens YouTube, YouTube learns about them: what they watch, what they search for and what they are interested in. SchoolPlayer takes every link to the school's own player, with no account, no history and no recommendations. Pupils see the video their teacher sent them, and nothing else.

Book a demo See how it works

No pupil account or history
Approved videos only
iPad and Chromebook

~~youtube.com/watch?v=…~~ → video.yourschool.org/ver/…

The water cycle · Year 3 ✓ Approved by the school

The risk

YouTube processes your pupils' data. And the school is accountable to families.

YouTube is an ad-funded platform designed for the general public. Using it as it is with children, on devices and accounts managed by the school, is a data protection risk that the school currently carries.

What YouTube collects

If a pupil signs in, their activity is tied to their account: the videos they watch, what they search for and their preferences. Without an account, YouTube still tracks the device's browsing with cookies and identifiers.

They are children

The GDPR gives children enhanced protection, particularly against profiling. In Spain, children under 14 cannot consent to the processing of their data themselves: their parents or guardians must consent for them.

The school is accountable

YouTube is not one of the Google Workspace for Education core services: it is an additional service, and Google requires the school to obtain parental consent for under-18s. If there is a complaint, the Spanish Data Protection Agency (AEPD) turns to the school.

A real case · March 2026

The AEPD's first fine on a school for its use of Google in the classroom

It all began with a complaint from a mother: her children, primary school pupils, were using YouTube and video games on their school laptop. The Agency found three GDPR infringements: the children's data was being used for purposes beyond education, families had not received all the required information, and the impact assessment was insufficient.

€20,000: fine, reduced to €12,000 for voluntary payment
531: pupils affected; their being children was an aggravating factor
3 months: to put it right or face further proceedings

Source: El Mundo, 20 March 2026 (in Spanish). SchoolPlayer takes care of YouTube; we review the rest of the platform with a console audit.

The alternative

Until now, schools had to choose the lesser of two evils

Teachers share YouTube videos every day. Pupils' devices, however, can only open the whole of YouTube or nothing at all.

Block YouTube Lost

No risk and no distractions, but pupils cannot watch the video for their task either. Teachers end up projecting it or giving up on it.

Leave it open Exposed

Every class link feeds the pupil's profile and opens up the home page, recommendations, Shorts and search. Restricted Mode filters content, not data or distractions.

SchoolPlayer Just the video

The video plays with no account and no history, in the school's player, and the rest of YouTube is unavailable. The school decides which videos can be watched.

How it works

Pupils tap the same link as always. SchoolPlayer does the rest.

The teacher shares a link

In Classroom, Teams, the school's learning platform or a website. No need to change how they work or use special links.
The device redirects it

An extension installed and locked by the school sends any YouTube video, including those embedded in other websites, to the school's gateway.
The gateway decides

If the video is approved, it plays on a clean screen. If not, the pupil sees a notice and the video is listed for teachers to review.

Playeryoutube.com/watch · youtu.be · /shorts · /live · /embedOpens in the gateway, if the school allows it
UnavailableHome page · search · channels · subscriptionsThe pupil sees a school page

What's included

Designed for everyday school life

Video-by-video allowlist

The check happens on the server, not on the device: a video that has not been approved never loads.

Teacher dashboard

Paste a link and approve it. Teachers add videos; school administrators also manage blocks and settings.

Videos to review

The dashboard shows which videos have been requested and how often, so they can be approved, blocked or dismissed in one click.

Easy start

A temporary open mode lets any video play while the school builds its list. Permanent blocks always apply.

Your school's branding

The school's name, colour and logo on everything pupils see, in Catalan, Spanish, English or German. Light and dark themes.

Nothing to maintain

Each school has its own address, dashboard and separate data, always over HTTPS. No servers to install at the school.

Devices

iPad and Chromebook, managed from the consoles you already use

Nothing is installed by hand and nothing depends on pupils accepting anything: the school deploys it and pupils cannot turn it off.

iPad

Safari · Apple School Manager · Jamf

Custom app distributed through Apple School Manager and installed by your MDM.
Safari extension always on, in private browsing too, enforced by configuration.
One field per school: the extension picks up the school's gateway from the MDM configuration itself.
For supervised iPads running iPadOS 18 or later.

Chromebook

Chrome · Google Admin console

Force-installed extension in the pupils' organisational unit.
Works at network level: requests to YouTube are redirected before they leave the device.
Strict Restricted Mode on any network, at home too, without relying on the school's Wi-Fi.
The school's gateway is set with a policy in the console.

With SchoolPlayer

We don't know which pupil watches which video. Nor do we want to.

SchoolPlayer is designed so that your data protection officer can review it with no small print, and so that the school can explain to families what happens with each video.

No pupil accounts. Pupils do not sign in or identify themselves on the gateway.
No per-pupil history. For each video, only the number of requests and the date of the last one are stored, with no pupil or device data.
No access logs. The service does not keep IP addresses alongside the videos requested.
What pupils watch stays off their account. Videos are shown with YouTube's official player in privacy-enhanced mode: they are not linked to the pupil's account and do not feed their history or recommendations. No proxies or downloads: YouTube's terms are respected.
A privacy policy for each school, with your controller's details, linked from the pages pupils see.
The app and the extensions do not collect or send any data.
All in writing. Each gateway's privacy policy sets out what is collected, what is not and what YouTube receives when a video plays.

Who we are

OCN: years of working inside schools

SchoolPlayer was born from real problems in our schools. As well as the gateway, we audit and tidy up the consoles used to manage the school's devices, accounts and network.

Console audits

We check the actual configuration against good practice: what pupils can do, what is shared externally and what was left half-done.

Safety and children

Policies by school stage, filtering, Restricted Mode, accounts and permissions: layers that reinforce each other rather than a single lock.

Report and support

We deliver a clear report with priorities and, if the school wishes, we make the changes together with its IT team.

Google Workspace
ChromeOS
Microsoft Azure
Microsoft 365
Apple School Manager
Jamf School
Cisco Meraki
Fortinet

Shall we review how your school uses YouTube?

We'll show you SchoolPlayer on your own iPad or Chromebook and explain what it takes to get it up and running and bring your school's use of YouTube into compliance.

Book a demo

Or email us at ventas@osocomputers.es