Is a teacher allowed to read texts on a student’s phone?

The Education and Training Act 2020 authorises access to a learners digital device in very specific circumstances.  

School staff can only ask a learner to show a text message or surrender their device, if the staff member has reasonable grounds to believe a learner has in their control an item likely to endanger anyone’s safety or detrimentally affect the learning environment. This might include suspected misuse of a device (such as a cell phone) that could or is affecting other learners.

School staff cannot search the content of a student’s digital device or ask for a student’s password to access the content.

Read more information in the Ministry of Education’s guidance (page 19-26)(external link) (opens to PDF, 2.5MB).

Updated November 2025