Control Z is fiction, but is it unrealistic? The question of privacy within our school hallways is at best questionable. How secure are the servers and wifi installations we all use daily at school. How difficult would it be to hack into a school public wifi and start to access all of the various devices using that network?
Within the HRCE all schools have a public wifi network as well as a school only wifi network. As employees of the HRCE we read a disclaimer every time we sign into a school computer. It clearly tells us that the HRCE can and will monitor all of our interactions online. Additionally, students and staff are using devices supplied by their schools, how secure are these devices? Is there any expectation of privacy when using them? Should there be? Work by the Electronic Frontier Foundation on student privacy has determined that Chromebooks and Google "collect far more information on kids than is necessary, store this information indefinitely, and sometimes even upload it to the cloud automatically. In short, they’re spying on students—and school districts, which often provide inadequate privacy policies (or no privacy policy at all), are helping them." (EFF.org) The use of these school supplied, Google powered, Chromebooks allow for the collection of considerable amount of useful data by Google. Such things as search history, search clicks, YouTube videos searched for and watched, Gmail messages, Chrome browsing history, bookmarks, passwords, website form entries and extensions installed. All of this information is stored in the cloud and as soon as a person signs into their google "life" on another device all of the "privacy" from the school district policies is lost and Google now has a profile to build advertising around. Google, for its part claim to be keeping all the data secure. They talk of no ads in G-Suite for Education core services, they comply with industry best practices and standards, and they claim transparency with their data collection. Another issue that is mentioned often (Desson, 2018) is that Google stores its G-Suite data outside of Canada and therefore that data is not subject to Canadian laws and Freedom of Information. While the data of Canadian school children is not likely a high priority of the US government, the fact that control of said data has been lost can be troubling for some. "Statistics are hard to come by, but the Alberta Ministry of Education told Spark that about 90 per cent of public school authorities are using G Suite for Education to some extent. It's being used in every public school in Nova Scotia as well." (Desson, 2018) Work by EFF has compiled a list of concerns with the use of G-Suite and Chromebooks in schools. A lack of transparency from schools about the issuance of devices and use of them by students. Downloading the burden of investigating the privacy implications onto the parents (if they were even aware). The concerns over data collection by Google, despite the claims by Google over the non-use of data for advertising. A lack of choice or the option to opt out of the Google powered educational technology. An over reliance on the privacy policies of Google. A need for digital privacy training and education for students and staff that currently does not exist in any comprehensive way. (Alim, 2018) The 2018 EFF report provides many recommendations from School districts on down to the end users, the students and staff. Most importantly are those for the people using the devices daily. Teachers are recommended to make digital literacy a key part of their curriculum, to advocate for more and better training, to pick tools carefully, and to inform parents. Students are encouraged to find out what privacy setting they have control over, to avoid sharing personal information, to talk to their parents and teachers about any concerns, to opt out if they are uncomfortable with a technology, program, or app, and to share any privacy concerns with their school administrators. (Alim, 2018) Student privacy while at school is controlled by the system administrators for the school and district. In all likelihood nothing nefarious is going to take place. But it is the responsibility of the individuals involved on a daily basis to make sure this is the case. It is the personal data of the students and teachers at stake. If they are not careful they are the ones that can be hurt. Whether it is personal info collected by a multi-national conglomerate that then "optimizes" the data to earn a profit or it is a hacker getting into the school wifi or network and accessing personal files, or pictures... the answer is the same. Be careful with your own personal information online, be careful using public networks, be careful what you share, and be careful where you share it. Resources: Alim, F., Cardozo, N., Gebhart, G., Gullo, K., & Kalia, A. (2018, February 15). Spying on Students: School-Issued Devices and Student Privacy. Retrieved July 23, 2020, from https://www.eff.org/wp/school-issued-devices-and-student-privacy Desson, Craig. (June 11, 2018). As Google for Education tools enter classrooms across Canada, some parents are asking to opt-out. CBC.ca. Retrieved on July 23, 2020 from https://www.cbc.ca/radio/spark/401-google-for-education-1.4694935/as-google-for-education-tools-enter-classrooms-across-canada-some-parents-are-asking-to-opt-out-1.4694939 Privacy and Security Centre. Retrieved July 23, 2020 from https://edu.google.com/intl/en_ca/why-google/privacy-security/?modal_active=none Student Privacy. EFF.org. Retrieved July 23, 2020 from https://www.eff.org/issues/student-privacy/
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