Google Lawsuit, COPPA, Investigating and Blocking Ad Trackers in Children’s Apps | Parent Coalition for Student Privacy

Google Lawsuit, COPPA, Investigating and Blocking Ad Trackers in Children’s Apps | Parent Coalition for Student Privacy

GOOGLE LAWSUIT, COPPA, INVESTIGATING AND BLOCKING AD TRACKERS IN CHILDREN’S APPS

There was some big news last week on the children’s privacy front: A District Judge has ruled that Google and the apps they sell on their “store” cannot  dodge a lawsuit brought by the New Mexico Attorney General. Previously, a state court had said the case couldn’t proceed, but thanks to this decision, Google will face claims that apps they hosted in the “Designed for Families” section of their Google Play Store, and ad networks they employed, had actual knowledge they were targeting and marketing children’s data, in violation of COPPA, the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act. The apps in question are owned by Tiny Lab Productions.

This court case will be significant in highlighting how apps use cookies and advertising tools to track children across the web. As explained in the decision, 

“Tiny Lab Productions (“Tiny Lab”), a Lithuanian company, is a developer of child-directed, mobile game apps including Fun Kid Racing, Candy Land Racing, Baby Toilet Race: Cleanup Fun, and GummyBear and Friends Speed Racing. AdMob [AdMob is owned by Google], Twitter/MoPub, InMobi/AerServ, Applovin, and ironSource (collectively, the “Ad Networks”) sold their proprietary software development kits (“SDKs”) to Tiny Lab for installation and use in its gaming apps. Id. ¶ 13. When a Tiny CONTINUE READING: Google Lawsuit, COPPA, Investigating and Blocking Ad Trackers in Children’s Apps | Parent Coalition for Student Privacy

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For Data Privacy Day — take our Survey: online apps used by districts and their privacy provisions

In honor of World Data Privacy Day, on January 28, we launched an App Survey for parents, asking what apps your school uses and what privacy protections and transparency notifications are in place.  The response has been incredible and we encourage all parents to share and take this survey; of course your answers will remain confidential. Click here to take the survey and if you happen to install ad blockers, let us know what you find!  

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For Data Privacy Day — take our Survey: online apps used by districts and their privacy provisions

Liability, Thy Name Is Google Meet | deutsch29: Mercedes Schneider's Blog

Liability, Thy Name Is Google Meet | deutsch29: Mercedes Schneider's Blog

Liability, Thy Name Is Google Meet

In order to educate students in quarantine, our school district is now using the video conferencing tool, Google Meet, which is part of the Google Classroom portfolio of online education products.

Google Meet has been billed as “a game changer.”

Indeed.

The idea of viewing the interior of my students’ homes while teaching them using Google Meet immediately brings to mind one word:

Liability.

In requiring teachers to use video conferencing for quarantined students, my school district has extended the classroom of all of its teachers into students’ homes. We can see into those homes as we conference. It makes me uncomfortable because I do not want to witness something I might be held legally responsible to report even as I feel I am invading student privacy via my official, school presence viewing that private space.

What if I see drugs or drug paraphenalia laying on a table?

What if I witness what appears to be the planning or execution of some other illegal activity?

What if I view or hear evidence of abuse or neglect?

What is my professional liability for  CONTINUE READING: Liability, Thy Name Is Google Meet | deutsch29: Mercedes Schneider's Blog