Copyright and Data Protection Moodle enrollment keys - the access password for your courses
Instructors issue enrollment keys for their Moodle courses, which course participants have to enter once - after logging in to the e-learning system with their Uni ID or project number - before they can access the course content. Why an enrollment key is necessary and why the instructor cannot refrain from using one, even if the course is accessible to all Moodle users, is briefly described below.
There are two reasons for this: the Act to Align Copyright Law with the Current Demands of the Knowledge-based Society (UrhWissG) and data protection.
- As an instructor, you are permitted to make learning materials available to your course participants in accordance with §§ 60a ff UrhG, as amended in the UrhWissG, provided that you use a registration key. (Without this, the circle of participants would no longer be limited to the course participants). For more information on the UrhWissG, please click on the link in the link list.
- Enrolled course participants can view a list of all other course participants. Without an enrollment key, the first and last names of all course participants, which must be protected under data protection law, could be read by anyone, and that is not permitted.
Now what are the implications for instructors when setting up the enrollment key?
- An enrollment key must be assigned.
- The enrollment key must not be so obvious that it can be gleaned/guessed from the course name.
- Enrollment keys for courses that are offered repeatedly in subsequent semesters must be different from each other.
- The enrollment key may not be published publicly on the internet.
- It would be a good idea to use the URZ password policy as a guideline for the registration key, which you can find under the adjacent link.