What are student records? In general, they are educational records about current and former students that are maintained by public and private educational institutions. To manage student data, a Student Information System (SIS) is used. It is an information management system for registering the student’s personal data: full name, date of birth, permanent and temporary address, telephone number and email address; contact information; handling the students’ admission process; registering students in courses; courses passed; tracking student academic progress: documenting examination grades, results of tests and traineeship assessment scores, transcripts; awards conferred and degrees earned; building student schedules; maintaining records of absence and attendance; managing data on grants, scholarships and loans; recording communications with students, keeping their health records, tracking individualized education programmes, and career services used. Class and teacher schedules are created automatically, and also teaching courses and syllabus are registered there. SISs can be used for creating statistical reports. A SIS is not a learning management system or a virtual learning environment, where course materials, assignments and assessment tests can be published electronically.

To communicate student records to non-academic staff, for example, to potential employers, with the aim to match with them for traineeship or employment purposes, permission shall be given by the respective student. SISs in use are server-based, with applications residing on a central computer server, and they are accessed by client applications on campus and outside the campus. As more and more educational institutions use cloud-based SIS options, information security has become a sensitive matter.