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EPIC – Google Admits to Data-Mining Student Emails

“In a sworn statement filed with a federal court, Google has admitted to scanning student emails to serve students targeted advertisements. Although Google does not display ads in Apps for Education, Google “does scan [student] email” to “compile keywords for advertising” on Google sites. Google has gained access to student emails pursuant to the Education Department’s recently revised regulations, which significantly weakened the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, a federal student privacy law. Still, Google’s practices appear to contravene the Education Department’s “best practices” for online educational service providers. EPIC had earlier sued the Education Department for weakening the privacy law that protects student data. For more information, see: EPIC Student Privacy and EPIC: EPIC v. Dep’t of Education.”

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