what to do if parent opts out of google classroom
lx million students and teachers around the globe are using Google for Education products. Parents are raising concerns about what data Google might be collecting from their kids, and some are disquisitional of a lack of options should they choose not to use them.
Last October, Riaz Bassari'southward girl came home from her uncomplicated school class with a permission form for G Suite for Education: a set of cloud-based digital learning tools Google offers to schools for free. The course, issued by the Greater Victoria School District in B.C., asked Bassari to hold that "my child'southward personal information will be used for a Google Apps for Education account." Bassari, yet, decided to not to sign the form, and soon discovered there was no alternative to Google's tools at his girl's school. "You either sign upwardly or you're left out," Bassari told Spark. Google for Educational activity includes educational versions of Gmail and Google Docs, besides as special classroom applications that permit teachers assign work or let students track science experiments in class. Since information technology launched 12 years ago, its user base has surged to threescore million students and teachers effectually the world. The growth has elicited questions about pupil privacy and the role of a tech giant in Canada's public didactics system, but on the footing, it'due south become hit with teachers. In Canada, Google for Instruction is at present being used in nearly every role of the state. The tool set includes G Suite for Teaching tools and Chromebooks — cheap laptops — to employ them. Statistics are hard to come by, simply the Alberta Ministry of Education toldSparkthat about 90 per cent of public school authorities are using G Suite for Teaching to some extent. It'southward beingness used in every public school in Nova Scotia equally well. Brad Payne, a software developer in Victoria, didn't sign the form either for his son in Class 3. The school instead offered to let him use the applications on a computer while signed in as his teacher. "In that location was sort of a feeling of 'otherness,' because all the kids had accounts and he didn't," Payne said. Payne said he doesn't trust Google with his data, pointing to the company'southward ad-based business organization model. He doesn't like how the company is establishing itself in the schoolhouse system either. "We're creating a bunch of consumers for Google. There'southward mayhap 20,000 students [in our school commune] and they're going to exist very familiar with this production with this suite of products," Payne said. Google for Education has grown and so large that a cottage industry of educator conferences and consultants has grown effectually it. In April the EdTechTeam, a California company that holds instruction tech events in 38 countries on seven continents held a summit at a high schoolhouse in Cambridge, Ontario. The superlative brought teachers, school board Information technology administrators, superintendents and other educators together to learn best practices for using the suite in the classroom. "G Suite tools have opened up the ability for learning to not just be within the classroom," said Kim Pollishuke, an educational resource teacher at the York Region Commune School Lath in Ontario. She lauded Google Hangouts' video conference application for letting her connect her students with the world in a style field trips never could. "A few years agone I had my students learning nearly command economies and I connected with a teacher who was living in South korea. He kindly stayed up in the middle of the night and came and did a hangout with my students." When Bassari got the Google for Education permission form from his daughter's school, he began to research Google's privacy policy. "I remember our chief concern is that there it is quite a lot of information that is going to become accumulated through … my girl'southward educational life," Bassari said. According to Google'southward privacy policy for their educational products, the company doesn't collect student data for advertising purposes or sell them to third parties. The apps are also advertizing-costless. But that doesn't mean Google isn't collecting data on students. The policy allows for the drove of information including location or GPS data, what mobile network a user is on, or their phone number. "1000 Suite for Educational activity account is a Google Account created and managed by a school for apply by students and educators. Location history is disabled by default for Grand Suite for Education One thousand to 12 users, only a schoolhouse'due south administrators can let individuals or groups to enable it," a Google spokesperson told Spark. Another of Bassari'due south concerns is that Google stores its G Suite for Education data outside Canada. "That information is outside of Canada, does not have whatever FOIPA (the Liberty of Data Protection or Privacy Human action) protection," Bassari said. He'south referring to BC's privacy legislation, which requires permission to store data outside of the land. Once it leaves Canada, the provincial and federal governments may have less sway over what happens to it. David Fraser, a privacy lawyer with McInnes Cooper in Halifax, says fears well-nigh foreign data collection are overblown. "I recall that the hazard is really quite low when it comes to big brother'due south access to this sort of data because it's simply not of interest to big brother," he said. Some consent forms reference U.S. anti-terror laws like the Liberty Act (formerly the Patriot Deed), warning parents that their children'due south data could be swept by U.South. government agencies. Fraser says he thinks parents don't need to lose sleep over this since most kids' user information wouldn't be of any interest to the FBI. He as well points out that Canada has similar anti-terrorism laws. Having reviewed hundreds of the production orders government issues when it wants to access information near people, "I tin tell you lot information technology doesn't involve elementary and loftier school students," Fraser told Spark. Jonathan Rochelle is the director of product direction at Google for Education. Rochelle says protecting pupil privacy is a key feature for Google for Education. "It'due south a actually important question and we experience it's probably the most important question and probably our highest valued area. In other words nosotros experience that privacy and security are the most important things we can provide," said Rochelle. He likewise says Google for Education products are handled completely differently than other Google services and that these promises are backed up by legal contracts. "Nosotros take to abide past the police and we exercise and by the contracts nosotros signed with both businesses and educators that use our products. They own the data that they use within the accounts in their domain. And that'south something that nosotros hold completely sacred," Rochelle said. Sophia Cope, a staff chaser at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, is skeptical of Google'south claims about privacy. "Y'all tin't ignore the fact that they are a private visitor with a profit motive," Cope said. She points to how Google collects data if students visit products exterior education suite, like YouTube and Maps. Google'southward educational activity privacy policy says this information isn't used to target ads. Cope says there are no piece of cake options for parents trying to opt-out of M Suite for Instruction. She suggested parents pull together to push for alternatives and for school boards to negotiate with Google to disable certain data-collecting practices. Bassari said his daughter's school board has yet to offer an culling to One thousand Suite for Education, even though the consent form said the lath would provide one. "At that place is none that they told usa exists. We've asked repeatedly," he said. The Greater Victoria School District wouldn't annotate on Bassari's example, stating privacy reasons, but said in a written statement that, "The district is actively exploring ways to create a district 'digital hub' that could provide consistent alternative educational opportunities for students, staff and also be accessible to parents." This segment was produced by Craig Desson and Josh Flear.
'We're creating a bunch of consumers'
Connecting the classroom
Privacy policies
Storing student data in the U.Southward.
Privacy and profit motives
Opting out
Source: https://www.cbc.ca/radio/spark/tech-in-the-classroom-1.4694935/as-google-for-education-tools-enter-classrooms-across-canada-some-parents-are-asking-to-opt-out-1.4694939
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