The inventor of the World Wide Web is right: It’s time to take back “full control of our data.” Tim Berners-Lee, who invented the first internet browser 30 years ago, spoke this week about the growing threats to “privacy, security and fundamental rights.” To mark the anniversary, he argued that transparency is essential. Berners-Lee spoke specifically about the dangers of internet browsers tracking our purchases. “The world’s leading browser is Google Chrome.”But spying on our purchases is the least of our worries. The company’s executives are using tracking apps that collect location data even when users have location tracking turned off, hiding and downplaying massive security breaches, and more. But that’s not the worst of it. Google is invading the privacy of society’s most vulnerable members: children. Google is partnering with public schools across America. Learning no longer starts with A, B, C but with G, G, G: G Suite, Gmail, Google Cloud, Google Drive, Google Docs, Google Sheets, Google Slides, Google Hangouts, Google Chrome Google Classroom. Don’t forget: Google now has 80 million teachers and students around the world using G Suite for Education, 40 million students and teachers in Google Classroom, and 30 million people using Google Chromebooks in and out of the classroom.
Despite the United States Department of Education's inspector general report on the ongoing violations of the rights and privacy of children and parents last fall, Trump did nothing to change the situation that had been started by the Obama administration.
Since then, the way has been opened for sharing children’s personal data with government agencies, nonprofits, and private educational technology vendors. Google has been able to access student data and target ads based on search engine activity, browsing history, and other private data on devices and accounts belonging to students and families who are unaware that they are being tracked by default. Students in tens of thousands of schools have started the academic year by lining up outside the library to create Gmail accounts and Google Classroom logins without parental permission or even notification. There is no escape: Without Google, there is no access. Without access, there is no education. “Some teachers don’t even teach kids,” one parent complained. Instead, “they watch videos on Canvas on their Chromebooks.”
Canvas is one of thousands of “learning management systems” that store student grades, homework, videos, quizzes, and tests—all integrated into the almighty and all-powerful Google. Google apps like ClassDojo collect personal behavioral data and psychological profiles that include family information, personal messages, photos, and voice notes. Given the privacy violations, public safety risks, and data theft—not to mention the mental health issues among America’s youth that are linked to social media—there should be a nationwide effort to completely eliminate Google from public schools. Parents need to take control and act against this system that endangers children’s privacy.
