Top Class Actions’s website and social media posts use affiliate links. If you make a purchase using such links, we may receive a commission, but it will not result in any additional charges to you. Please review our Affiliate Link Disclosure for more information.
The New Mexico attorney general recently slammed Google with a privacy lawsuit alleging that school children had their information illegally collected.
According to New Mexico Attorney General Hector Balderas, Google’s Chromebooks and G Suite for Education products are widely used in schools across the state because they are given to school districts for free.
Balderas claims although these products are helpful to students, they are used by the tech giant to “spy on New Mexico children and their families” and collect “troves of their personal information” without parental consent.
Google allegedly uses their programs to collect data regarding location, websites visited, search terms, voice recordings, passwords, and more. This information is reportedly collected from New Mexico school children under the age of 13.
According to Balderas’ Google lawsuit, Google is “breaking its own promises to respect and safeguard children’s privacy” in addition to violating the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) and the New Mexico Unfair Practices Act.
“Student safety should be the No. 1 priority of any company providing services to our children, particularly in schools,” Balderas argued in a statement. “Tracking student data without parental consent is not only illegal, it is dangerous.”
The Google lawsuit seeks injunctive relief prohibiting the tech giant from further unlawful data collecting. Balderas also seeks penalties of $5,000 for each violation of the New Mexico Unfair Practices Act, damages, restitution, interest, court costs, and attorneys’ fees.
In addition to filing his Google lawsuit in federal court, Balderas sent a letter to the company’s CEO Sundar Pichai. In his letter, which was released with his public statement, the plaintiff urged Pichai to stop collecting the data of young New Mexico students.
“The safety of New Mexico’s children is my absolute priority, and Google’s conduct is putting those children at risk,” Balderas states in his letter.
The attorney general acknowledges that Google is a “vitally important partner to our schools,” but argues that their “partnership must be compliant with the law and put the safety of our school children first.” Based on this, he demands that Google cease the illegal collection of data.
Although the plaintiff is concerned about the data being gathered from the young children, he has reportedly assured schools across the state there is “no immediate harm” from the data gathering practice. Based on this, he states that daily use of Google products shouldn’t be interrupted at this time.
Only five months ago, Google’s parent company Alphabet Inc. paid $170 million in fines to the U.S. Federal Trade Commission. These fines resolved claimed that the company’s YouTube services collected identifying information from children in violation of COPPA.
Does your child use Google education products or Chromebooks at school? Do you believe their information is being collected without your consent? Share your thoughts in the comment section below.
New Mexico is represented by Brian E. McMath and P. Cholla Khoury of the New Mexico Office of the Attorney General’s Consumer & Environmental Protection Division.
The Google Privacy Lawsuit is Balderas v. Google LLC, Case No. 1:20-cv-00143, in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Mexico.
22 thoughts onGoogle Lawsuit Says Company Violates Students’ Privacy
Please add me as I have twins who have used the Google class computers for 4 plus years. The last two years, they have been required to keep the computer with them and keep it charged constantly even though they have mostly been in person in Houston, TX.
Add me