Google has been repeatedly fined by regulators for various violations in the US. For example, in 2019, YouTube paid about $200 million for violating children's privacy laws. In December, Genius sued Google for copyright infringement. And now New Mexico authorities are suing Google for collecting children's personal data.
The lawsuit, filed in US District Court in Albuquerque, alleges that Google is using educational services offered to teachers and students to spy on children and their families. According to government spokesman Hector Balderas, Google is touting Google Education as a resource for children who do not have access to education or are in schools with limited resources. However, under the guise of this, he says, Google is using the service to track children in schools and at home and record their online activities.
βStudent safety should be the number one priority for any company providing services to our children, especially in schools. Tracking a student's data without parental consent is not only illegal, but also dangerous," he stressed.
Google has denied all allegations and said the lawsuit is flawed in nature because the school has complete control over the privacy of its students: βWe do not use the personal information of elementary and middle school users for targeted advertising. School districts can decide how best to use Google for learning in their classrooms, and we're ready to work with them."
There is no national privacy law in the US, which gives Google an advantage that in legal parlance is called opposing doubt. However, New Mexico has a number of privacy regulations, and authorities allege that Google violates state malpractice laws and federal laws to protect children's online privacy.
The lawsuit notes that Google does not allow children under the age of 13 to create their own accounts, which protects them from being tracked on the Internet. The state claims the search giant is trying to circumvent its own policies by using the Google Education program to covertly access massive amounts of information. The Google Education plan assumes that children under the age of 13 have their own accounts, but these accounts are controlled by an administrator, who usually belongs to the IT department of a particular school.
Hector Balderas sent a letter to more than 80 million teachers using Google Education saying they can continue to use the platform. He noted that the lawsuit does not directly affect teachers or students, so they can safely continue to use the service while the investigation is ongoing.
Source: 3dnews.ru