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| Subject: Your Kids’ School-Owned Devices Are Spying On Them, Report Finds Sun Apr 16, 2017 4:14 am | |
| As adults, we all kind of have at least a vague peripheral sense that the devices and software we use are probably up to some kind of shenanigans with our personal data. Kids, however, are probably not thinking as closely about what they tell the devices they use, and what data those devices then share — especially if they’re school-owned tools. And yet, a new report finds, some of the learning technology schoolchildren are required to use every day are some of the worst when it comes to explaining and protecting users’ privacy.
The EFF’s new “Spying on Students” report [PDF] pulls together two years’ worth of research and data trying to find out whether educational technology (ed tech) companies are protecting students’ privacy. The answer is, unfortunately, largely not. One third of all K-12 students are using school-issued ed tech devices, the EFF finds. About half are Chromebooks, and more than 30 million total students, teachers, and administrators are using Google’s education suite of software. And parents are being largely left in the dark. The EFF surveyed parents to see if software was transparent about how it handled student privacy — and, in fact, if schools were being transparent with how they used software. In both cases, the answer was no. “We were given no information about our first-grader receiving a tablet this year,” one parent responded. “And when we ask questions, there is little information given at every level.” Teachers and students reported the same kind of, “surprise, you’re using this now” approach to technology in the classroom. 57% of parents the EFF surveyed said they were sure they had not received written disclosure of schools’ practices and policies about tech, and another 23% of parents said they didn’t know if they had or not. Together, that’s 80% of parents who have basically no idea what their children’s’ schools are doing with regard to technology.
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