in: http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/253461
Is Google Spying on Students? The Electronic Frontier
Foundation Believes So.
Image credit: Shutterstock
Reporter
Google has allegedly been tracking search histories
and other personal information from students, says a new complaint filed by
The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) with the
Federal Trade Commission.
The EFF claims that Google has been “collecting,
maintaining, using, and sharing” data from students who use its
Chromebooks in schools, and its educational apps.
Google’s “Sync” feature for Chrome is enabled by
default on the Chromebooks it sells to schools, according to the EFF. “This allows Google to track, store on its servers, and data mine for
non-advertising purposes, records of every Internet site students visit, every
search term they use, the results they click on, videos they look for and watch
on YouTube, and their saved passwords,” the EFF said in a statement.
The EFF finds this tracking particularly egregious
because, in January, Google signed the “Student Privacy Pledge,” a “legally enforceable document,” which promises that the company won’t collect this type of information
from students.
“Despite publicly promising not to, Google mines
students’ browsing data and other information, and uses it for the company’s
own purposes. Making such promises and failing to live up to them is a
violation of FTC rules against unfair and deceptive business practices,” EFF Staff Attorney Nate Cardozo said. “Minors shouldn’t be tracked or used as guinea pigs, with their data
treated as a profit center. If Google wants to use students’ data to ‘improve
Google products,’then it needs to get express consent from parents.”
A Google spokesperson provided this statement to Business
Insider:
"Our services enable students everywhere to learn
and keep their information private and secure. While we appreciate EFF's focus
on student privacy, we are confident that these tools comply with both the law
and our promises, including the Student Privacy Pledge."
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