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Pick two or three tools to see their ratings and the supplier’s answers next to each other. Useful when you’re deciding which one your school should use.
| Field | NotebookLM (Workspace for Education) |
|---|---|
| Staff rating | Green Processor, no training on inputs, UK/EU storage or stated transfer safeguards, school DPA available |
| Pupil rating | Red Minimum age 18+: not suitable for under-18s |
| Main use | Chat with documents |
| SupplierThe company that makes and runs the tool. | |
| CategoryWhat sort of tool it is, for example a chatbot or a lesson-planning helper. | research/teacher tool |
| Pupil-facingWhether pupils use it directly, or only staff. Pupil use needs extra care. | not stated |
| Processor or controllerA processor only uses data on your school’s instructions. A controller makes its own decisions about the data, which means your school has less say. | processor (Workspace core service, Cloud Data Processing Addendum applies) |
| Where data is storedWhich country the data is stored in. UK or EU storage is usually simpler for schools. | Google infrastructure; org data region settings do NOT apply to NotebookLM (now Gemini Notebook) data; transfers under the SCCs in Google's Cloud Data Processing Addendum |
| Trains AI models on inputsWhether what you type (or upload) may be used to improve the supplier’s AI. “No” is what you want for anything about pupils or staff. | no; not human reviewed |
| How long inputs are keptHow long the supplier keeps what you type before deleting it. | not stated |
| Data processing agreement (DPA)The data processing agreement: the contract that sets out how the supplier must look after your school’s data. | Link |
| Signs individual DPAs with schoolsWhether the supplier will sign a data agreement with your school specifically, rather than just standard online terms. | yes - Cloud Data Processing Addendum is part of the Workspace agreement |
| UK GDPR representative / DPOWhether the supplier names a data protection officer or UK representative you can contact about data questions. | not stated |
| Minimum ageThe youngest age the supplier allows to use the tool. Check this before any pupil uses it. | 18+ |
| Key safety noteAnything else worth knowing, such as admin controls or content filtering. | not stated |
| Research statusHow complete our research on this tool is. | sourced |
| Last checked | 2026-10-23 |
Ratings are a rules-based summary of each supplier’s published terms. Not legal advice. How we rate tools