by Craig McDonald, The Sunday Times
The Health and Wellbeing Census prompted a fierce backlash after 14-year-olds were asked to supply intimate details about their sexual activity
Explicit sexual details of thousands of school pupils have been erased by the Scottish government and external researchers.
The Health and Wellbeing Census, conducted in 2021 and 2022, asked children, from age 14, to supply intimate details about any sexual activity, with information gathered from pupils in S4 to S6 in half of Scotland’s council areas.
The survey also required children to fill in details on subjects including mental health, diet and exercise, bullying and schoolwork pressures.
It prompted a significant backlash with about half of all councils refusing to take part. Many parents said they had not been made fully aware of the nature of the information being sought from their children, some of which included graphic sexual language, while privacy campaigners warned it would be possible to identify individual children and their answers.
There was also deep concern at reports that data from the census was being advertised for use by external researchers. The UK information commissioner later told the Scottish government there was a risk that children could be identified by “third parties and rogue actors”.
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