Google says it tracks personal student data, but not for advertising
What does Google do with the personal information it collects from children who use Google products at school? That has become a pressing question for privacy advocates as Google has quickly grown into one of the nation’s largest providers of educational technology in K-12 schools.
Now Google has provided some answers to that question in a seven-page letter to Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.), the ranking member of the Judiciary Subcommittee on Privacy, Technology and the Law.
Google does not use K-12 students’ personal information to serve targeted advertisements, the company says in the letter, which was signed by Sue Molinari, Google’s vice president for public policy and government relations.
But Google does track data from students for other reasons, including developing and improving Google products, the company wrote. Such tracking happens when students are signed into their Google Apps for Education account but are using certain Google services — such as Search, YouTube, Blogger and Maps — that are considered outside Google’s core educational offerings.
Thousands of K-12 schools and universities — and more than 30 million Google says it tracks personal student data, but not for advertising - The Washington Post:
