Google is facing a new lawsuit , alleging that it is using its Google for Education platform to collect the personal data of students under the age of thirteen.
As part of the platform, schools in the United States receive free Google Chromebooks and access to the G Suite for Education service
Through this service, students can access Gmail, Classroom, electronic word processing, and presentation applications, which are essential for schoolwork and communication with teachers.
Platforms that target children must Act Protection Children's Online Privacy. To do this, they must first ask for parental consent, especially when it comes to children under the age of 13. If parents give their consent, then the service can be used by children, but also receive the necessary information about the students.
On Thursday, New Mexico Attorney General Hector Balderas filed a lawsuit against Google, claiming the tech company is violating child protection laws by stealing data student through its Google Education service.
According to the lawsuit, children under the age of 13 in the United States are prohibited from having Google accounts. Only within the framework of the Google Education platform do they have access to accounts. The prosecutor argues that Google is exploiting the platform to secretly collect information from children in New Mexico that it could not collect otherwise.
Balderas also says that Google promises to protect students' privacy, but in reality it "spies" on children to collect their data.
The data to which the company has access is: their physical location, the sites they visit, the words they use when searching on Google's search engine, the search results, the videos they watch on YouTube, personal contact lists, audio recordings and other information.
Google stated that these claims are false, that schools ask for parental permission before allowing students to create accounts on the platform, and that the company does not use students' personal information for its own purposes (e.g., ad targeting).
The New Mexico attorney general is seeking damages for all violations, while also asking the tech company to admit to its unfair practices.
