Google is conquering schools in Spain. And many families are not aware of what is at stake

We can learn many things from the Nordic countries. Denmark has been the first country to ban Google products in different schools and that idea is catching on in a few other Spanish schools. The Madrid association Mobile Free Adolescence encourages parents and schools to report Google to the Spanish Data Protection Agency (AEPD). Because little by little Google Workspace for Education is expanding among students and some do not welcome the fact that a large foreign company with private interests has such a relevant role.

If the product is free… “It is worrying that institutions do not see it as suspicious that a commercial company with so many profits is willing to digitize an area such as education for free,” Simona Levi explains to El Periódicofrom the activist platform Xnet. This position reflects well the concerns of part of the educational sector.

On the one hand, they receive access to Google’s educational platform and use computers such as Chromebooks. The problem is that this is leaving the management of education in the hands of Google, instead of betting on private servers and open source tools that favor the independence of Spanish education.

The AEPD does not see it clearly. Given this debate, the National Institute of Innovative Technologies and Teacher Training (INTEF) asked the AEPD what its assessment was. At the beginning of this year the report of the Spanish agency was published and its conclusion is unfavorable.

As described in this report: “such treatment would not pass the proportionality judgment because it is not necessary.” The AEPD refers to the fact that we are dealing with a vulnerable group such as minors and states that there are “less burdensome” alternatives to the Google platform.

And it is not being explained well to parents. More problematic is the fact that students’ parents are not informed of the implications of using the Google platform at school. It does not mean that these implications are worrying, but it does require that they be on the table and the affected people be aware.

This has led this year to a fine of 5,000 euros. The AEPD charged a school for lack of information to parents regarding the processing of data derived from using Chromebooks.

That is, the parents had not been informed about the processing of their children’s data. Only a letter “in which reference is made to privacy policies through a link”, but where there was no privacy information about Google Workspace or other apps used at school, such as Kahoot.

Google defends its part. In a Google Doc for Educationthe company presents its arguments to justify that on its side things are done correctly.

It is explained that the data is not shared; that personal data is not used to create profiles; that all information is encrypted, that they are committed to the GDPR and that they are not used to train AI. Also that their privacy practices are audited by different international standards: ISO/IEC 27001 (Information Security Management), ISO/IEC 27017 (Cloud Security), ISO/IEC 27018 (Cloud Privacy), ISO/IEC 27701 (Privacy) and reports SOC 2 and SOC 3. But the underlying argument is that “the educational centers are the owners and responsible for the processing of student data, not Google.”

Educational sovereignty as an alternative. Many schools welcome having access to Google tools for education. In fact there is even ‘Google Reference School’ program. But on the other hand, there are initiatives that try to get schools to opt for free tools. Also based on the cloud, but without going through that of a private American company. We have an example with the Generalitat, which together with the Barcelona City Council and Xnet have developed the ‘Suite (DD)’. An educational platform in the cloud, but open source.

At the moment they are still pilot tests without an extensive route. Meanwhile Google (and Microsoft) continue to offer their educational tools throughout Spain. And unfortunately there is not enough debate about whether we want the future of Spanish education to pass through their hands.

Image | Prudhoe West Academy

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