海角大神

A leading privacy watchdog has charged that Google is collecting and using students鈥� data through software installed on laptops marketed especially to schools, in violation of the company鈥檚 stated commitment to protecting student privacy.

The Electronic Frontier Foundation alleged in filed Tuesday with the Federal Trade Commission that Google鈥檚 Chromebooks and its cloud-based Google Apps for Education, which the company says are used by more than 40 million students, teachers, and school administrators, are pre-installed with a feature that allows the company to monitor the websites that students visit.

鈥淒espite publicly promising not to, Google mines students鈥� browsing data and other information, and uses it for the company鈥檚 own purposes. Making such promises and failing to live up to them is a violation of FTC rules against unfair and deceptive business practices,鈥� EFF staff attorney Nate Cardozo says in . 鈥淢inors shouldn鈥檛 be tracked or used as guinea pigs, with their data treated as a profit center. If Google wants to use students鈥� data to 鈥榠mprove Google products,鈥� then it needs to get express consent from parents."

The company argues that it hasn't gone back on its promises to protect student privacy. "Our services enable students everywhere to learn and keep their information private and secure," Google says in a statement. "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."

The watchdog鈥檚 complaint comes nearly a year after Google agreed to sign a saying it would be transparent about how it used students鈥� data, it would not track students digital movements in order to advertise products through the software, and it would use students鈥� data only for educational purposes.

The company originally balked at signing the pledge, which was endorsed by President Obama, saying its own were already comprehensive. But it after the pledge 鈥� created by a Washington-based privacy think tank and a software industry trade group 鈥� gained further support. Initially, about 75 companies signed the pledge, while the number has now grown to more than 200.

There's also been a growing debate over student data privacy as more schools around the country have begun embracing classroom technology.

鈥淏y and large, parents have been pretty trusting of schools with respect to the delivery of education and the necessity of collecting data,鈥� says Doug Levin, an education technology consultant who previously served as executive director of the State Educational Technology Directors Association from 2009 until earlier this year.

But with several high-profile data breaches and leaks over the past few years, such as the NSA spying program disclosed by Edward Snowden or the recent hack of toymaker V-Tech, he says, 鈥淚 think parents in general are much more aware about the collection of data 鈥� and the exposure of data 鈥� than they ever were before... What鈥檚 changed is parents鈥� level of trust in the system doing right for their kids.鈥�

While many states have passed laws aimed at protecting students鈥� data, the EFF鈥檚 complaint marks the first time the FTC鈥檚 enforcement over technology companies has been directly challenged, Mr.聽Levin says.

The EFF has also alleged that the software鈥檚 administrative settings, which can control several Chromebooks at once, allows an administrator to choose a setting that sends students鈥� information to Google and other websites, which violates the Privacy Pledge, the group says.

Despite the outcry from the privacy watchdog, for schools that have invested heavily in the technology, perspectives on students鈥� privacy rights vary.

A spokesman for the Boston Public Schools, which is using Google鈥檚 Chromebooks and educational software in many of its classrooms, declined to comment on the EFF鈥檚 complaint. Previously, the principal of a technology-focused school in the district said teachers aimed to increase students' awareness of how their data was being used online, though she did not address the Google software specifically.

鈥淭alking with students even about their digital footprint, what they鈥檙e leaving out there on things they鈥檙e very familiar with has been eye-opening for our kids,鈥� Lisa Gilbert-Smith, principal of Dearborn STEM Academy, a public school in Boston鈥檚 Dorchester neighborhood that has made computer science courses a focus, said in an interview last month. 鈥淛ust making sure they can utilize technology in an appropriate manner, and that they actually know what it is, and why it is, and where it came from, those are things that [our teachers] are working on."

At schools in the suburban district of Burlington, Mass., which also use the Google software, officials say students are not entitled to privacy rights for devices provided by the school. The district鈥檚 superintendent told Passcode鈥檚 Malena Carollo that it monitors what students do with the technology in order to ensure their safety.

"It鈥檚 not their device," Burlington superintendent Eric Conti said. "Are we monitoring or filtering your use? Yes," he added. "We鈥檙e providing the device, and you鈥檙e using content we鈥檙e delivering through that device."

The Future Privacy Foundation, the think tank that developed the privacy pledge, says it was skeptical of the watchdog鈥檚 complaint against Google.聽 "We don鈥檛 believe the complaint raises any issues about data use that are restricted by the Student Privacy Pledge," Jules Polonetsky, the group鈥檚 executive director, says in .

Mr. Polonetsky noted that the Google software did not use students鈥� data to create so-called behavioral ads, while the Chrome Sync feature that allows such data collection was sold in all Chromebooks, not just those marketed to schools.

Jeremy Gillula, a staff technologist at EFF, responded in a on Wednesday, saying the group was also concerned about the company's tracking of students who move from an educational app to another Google product while still logged into their educational account, a practice, he argued, violates the privacy pledge.

But for privacy groups, whether the claim violates the pledge may be beside the point, says Levin, the education technology consultant.

鈥淚n some respects, this is also a fight being fought in the court of public opinion,鈥� he says, noting that the debate over student data privacy has also spurred some schools to begin developing their own 鈥溾�� governing how they handle such data.

The group鈥檚 complaint also comes amid over whether to include privacy protections in an upcoming rewrite of the Bush-era No Child Left Behind Act standards, known as the Every Student Succeeds Act.

鈥淚 think it does lead 鈥� whether it鈥檚 companies or schools 鈥� down a path of [asking] 鈥楬ow much are we collecting? Do we really need all this information? How transparent have we been? Who are all the entities that have we have contractual arrangements with?' 鈥� Levin adds.