In this episode of EdTech Privacy Parents, Angeline discusses Tom from Belgium’s experiences with digital privacy issues in his children’s schools. Tom shares his journey of becoming a privacy champion for his kids, detailing instances of lax security on Chromebooks, basic password issues, and the school’s reluctance to take robust privacy actions. He emphasizes the importance of teaching digital literacy from a young age and the potential long-term consequences of neglecting digital privacy. The discussion also highlights parents’ challenges in advocating for better privacy practices in an educational setting. Tom’s efforts led him to engage with the Belgian data protection authority and push back against poor privacy policies, demonstrating the crucial role of parental involvement in shaping privacy-conscious future generations.
00:00 Introduction to EdTech Privacy Parents
00:37 Tom’s Experience with School Tech
01:50 Privacy Concerns with Chromebooks
04:16 Password Issues and Solutions
05:20 Multi-Factor Authentication in Schools
11:34 Monitoring Software Controversy
14:27 The Importance of Digital Literacy
15:42 Real-Life Examples of Privacy Risks
18:41 The Slippery Slope of Surveillance
23:08 Conclusion and Call to Action
Angeline mentions this document about Chromebooks in schools in the episode:
We can also recommend these articles that explain the issue of content and data sharing.
- Aimed at teens: What You Should Know About School Technology and Data Sharing – Data Girl and Friends
- Aimed at parents: Tech at School: Protecting Your Child’s Privacy – ANGELINE CORVAGLIA
Info on how to request information from schools
- USA: What is a FOIA (Freedom of Information Act) and how do you make one https://www.foia.gov/how-to.html
In addition, we also recommend these resources:
- Me2B Alliance Product Testing Report on School Mobile Apps Student Data Sharing Behavior: https://internetsafetylabs.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/school-apps-data-sharing-behavior-spotlight-report-final.pdf
- Edtech law center’s resources on issues with edtech: https://edtech.law/issues-with-edtech/
Transcript
Yeah, something like that. They are still using books, so it's not, not purely the printed books or purely the, the, the tech. It's, it's more like a combination of, of everything. Okay. And how's the experience been with tech at school? Obviously you're here because you had some negative experiences. So, I mean, how did it start?
re might be something wrong? [:hey actually got was a basic [:it interested in privacy and [:Slowly, slowly, we are accepting more and more things. And I think in my case, I really said, okay, this is getting too much. When I came back one day years back from a grocery store or a bakery and like when I came home my My phone actually asked me how was your visit to the to the bakery and I was like, okay Why the hell do you need to know what my what my experience was at the bakery?
was the tipping point Yeah, [:id, okay, but how, how is it [:And then she said, yeah, well, you know, it's difficult because maybe they forget the password. And I'm thinking, but there are other solutions. So she changed the passwords. And then I asked my kid, I said, okay, it's okay now. She said, ah, not really, because We all have different passwords, but there is a nice logic in it.
just one number difference. [:I will put it in a secure place. So if they forget it, I can still easily get them back online. Still not, not the ideal situation, but okay, I can live with that one. So that's, uh, that's already something. But then I, I talked with the middle school, um, on the same thing and I said, okay, but you're also not using multi factor authentication.
You're just using a basic [:ow at this age, yeah, it's a [:And that's really, really interesting. This was such a big light bulb moment for me when you explained it, because on the one hand, it's so simple. But then on the other hand, obviously it's not so simple, right? Because I've also heard, you know, kids, they have trouble understanding. There was one parent who said they had the passwords just printed and put on the Chromebook.
it was just a sticker. And. [:evice? It's also part of the [:They say, okay, our main role is education. It's not being busy with this one. But I don't really agree with their opinion and that it's their responsibility to teach the children basic security, safety settings of these devices. Yeah, I think so, too, and I think, honestly, I think that should be a given, um, but I do understand that schools are a little bit overwhelmed with it because they're also not prepared.
They're like, take [:ake the Chromebooks a little [:Don't give name, first name, and then the school just put something else. It's not, uh, don't put the name, put something else. When the schools are saying, ah, but we don't want to reduce a student to a number. No, it's not meaning you need to put a number. You can put whatever you want as long as it's not really the name that's directly linkable to a, to a certain student.
to the, the link in the show [:says basically, if you don't [:ke to make it more, uh, more [:I mean, obviously, the longer that they're able to get the data, the more money they can make from it, right? Because kids data is, is worth a lot because you're getting them really, really early. Tell us more about the reaction, like other parents and the school, even your kids, what kind of reactions and understanding or non understanding do you get when you try to push these issues?
s it's depending one of them [:ut this with my children and [:And now we had to shut down YouTube. And of course, I have some children saying, yeah, please don't tell to anybody that you did this because we will have a very hard time explaining these to more than 1, 000 students. Why our father asked the school to shut down YouTube. It must be difficult actually to be that one parent.
I don't have to fight these [:ed the complaint. It's still [:Okay. Maybe this is not the best idea. And then I had one of my children coming home and they just said, ah, you know, We are now going to install monitoring software on our laptops because too many children are busy watching, uh, football games in, in schools. Uh, we are going to, to work on that one with monitoring software so they can watch from the front of the classroom what we are doing on the laptops.
this, eh? So I contacted the [:pery slope and, and you were [:that they would only do the monitoring for laptops that were connected on the school Wi-Fi? Yeah, this was, this was one of the contingency measures to, to please me, because I told them, okay, you can take over the screen of the, of the computer, you can take over the camera. So in theory, when they are with all this homeschool education, you can see what's happening in their, in their house, what's happening in their room.
sensitive information. This [:y know this, yeah, everybody [:Yeah, yeah, okay, and, and, and it's, it's there for trying to find excuses, and ah, we will only use it during school hours, and we will trust our teachers, and check, you know, it should not be like this, it should not be, uh, if you want to do this, walk around in the classroom, don't, don't put monitoring software, just walk around when they are working, and you can immediately see what they are doing.
one of the teachers that was [:s me a story. Is that it's a [:, you're also welcoming them [:The teacher can't realistically manage all those kids where, you know, if it's a parent and the parents can take care of their few kids at home. So it's a really risky situation. It's a, yeah, it's, it's, it's not easy. Is there any like techniques that you've realized work to help, I mean, move forward and in terms of understanding other than just sitting there and explaining?
e, you have to be quite well [:blem. Okay, it's no problem. [:ery easy to afterwards build [:Of course. I think so too. I was just thinking about that yesterday. Honestly, obviously everyone's talking about TikTok right now because TikTok was closed. Uh, we were recording this a few days after it was closed for like 12 hours in the U. S. and I was thinking the power of influencing from a young age if you have their data and you're collecting it even from school devices.
hey go. And then they get on [:e up slowly as a society and [:That's it. The only thing is to educate them and to, to show them how it should be done and start with the basics. And don't, don't share anything what you don't want to see on the front of the newspaper. Don't just log in with a simple password. Don't use the same passwords everywhere because this is still a thing.
People are still using the [:We have to teach them that from the very beginning. We have to respect that, even if it's inconvenient, it's so important. Like, another example I'm giving to people is something, it's not related to schools, but it's like, um, it's the cameras that are popping up everywhere, I don't know, but Belgium has one of the most dense eye and pair camera systems in the world, so they are everywhere.
e, but we are going to catch [:, from the answers you gave, [:to improve your safety, but [:It has to be on in the morning, things like this. So I said, okay, if you put it too out to outside too early, we will fine you. Yeah, no, of course we don't want that, but this is what's happening. People, governments and communities, they will always find an excuse to use the cameras for more and more and more and more.
And that's the [:e morning, he's there again. [:People are not going to accept this, eh? But people are accepting if you, if you, online you're looking for a laundry machine, and automatically for the next weeks, you are getting nothing but commercials about laundry machines, eh? People are just accepting, you see, it's like, ah, yeah, yeah, yeah, no, no, it's, I just, it's just clicking it away.
your, uh, your privacy that [:Like there was a story of a [:urity, complete lax privacy, [:have the courage to do it as [:But yeah, we need to do it for our kids, right? No, that's it. That's it. Okay. Thank you so much. Thank you very much. We encourage all parents and loved ones to ensure that the digital footprints their children create at school are treated with the respect and care they deserve. If your school or area hasn't yet leaned heavily into technology at school, we hope these stories will help you ask the right questions when they do.
If you have a story to [: