"Most Apps Used in US Classrooms Share Students' Personal Data With Advertisers, Researchers Find"
According to a new study conducted by the nonprofit Internet Safety Labs, 96 percent of apps used in K-12 schools in the US share children's personal information with third parties, including advertisers, often without the knowledge or consent of users or schools. The study shows how the race by schools to expand their technological arsenal has put students and their parents in a position of not knowing where their personal information is going. The researchers examined 13 schools in each state, resulting in a total of 663 schools representing nearly 500,000 students. They discovered that most schools had more than 150 approved classroom technologies. The report builds on previous research conducted by the group, formerly known as the Me2B Alliance, which discovered that hundreds of advertisers obtained valuable student data from a website specializing in school sports data. According to the most recent report, the exposure of student data to advertisers via school-approved technology is widespread. Almost a quarter of the apps recommended or required by schools contained advertisements, and 13 percent had retargeting advertisements, which allow digital advertisers to target visitors based on previous website visits. There is a risk that student data will be pulled into advertising networks with no way for schools or parents to find out. Several states, including California, prohibit the use of student data for this type of targeting. Google was the most common third-party that received data from school apps. Almost 70 percent of all apps were found to be sending data to Google, and 70 percent of them included Google Software Developer Kits (SDKs). Some of this is due to Google's dominance as a hardware and software supplier for K-12 schools. Researchers discovered that customized apps for schools were less safe than the general pool of apps studied. For example, researchers discovered that 81 percent of custom apps requested access to location information. Furthermore, 69 percent of custom apps accessed calendars, contacts, and other social information. This article continues to discuss findings from Internet Safety Labs' exploration of children's educational technology safety across US schools.