Google’s Education Software violates Student Privacy, claims EFF

The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) alleged that Google is spying on school children through its Chromebooks. The international non-profit digital rights group has now asked the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to investigate Google over the matter.

In a complaint filed earlier, EFF said Google is collecting personal data from kids using the company’s Chromebooks in classrooms. According to the non-profit, Google for Education has been collecting the data and disobeying the terms of Student Privacy Pledge that the company signed earlier this year.

The EFF said during ‘Spying on Students’ campaign, it found that some Google practices were doubtful. It said that the tech giant isn’t collecting children’s data to advertise it, but to track data about students' browsing activities.

While defending the company, Google spokesperson said the questions raised by EFF are baseless. The company is confident that its education tools are following all legal laws. The company is working according to the Student Privacy Pledge, the spokesperson added. The Future of Privacy Forum has also favored Google. The organization behind the Student Privacy Pledge said EFF's complaint has any merit.

The tech company’s Sync feature gets enabled by default on Chromebooks sold to schools. “The feature enables Google to track, store on its servers -- as well as 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 their saved passwords”, as per a statement by EFF.