It's nice to see commenters on here debunking the heavy implications of unfounded lies in this 'news' article. As they have detailed, the EFF found fault with the schools, and their poor grasp of privacy, not Google itself.
I know this is an Apple-centered site but Jesus, you'll bend over backwards to twist a source to suite the 'Google is the worst tech company ever" mentality, won't you? Other commenters saying things like "Google needs to die" - Really, a hell of a lot more people use Google than Apple devices, so it terms of impact on the world, I think it should be the other way around.
And yes, before anyone says "well you're on an Apple Fanboy site so", I created an account solely for this comment. Seriously, be rational, mature adults. Get out of your iCaves and stop hiding from what you don't like.
LOL.... it's the over the top articles and hysterical comment section that makes me come here daily. I love this site! The site is so ridiculous that it actually does Apple a disservice. There's other wacky Apple fan sites, but this one is the best.
It's nice to see commenters on here debunking the heavy implications of unfounded lies in this 'news' article. As they have detailed, the EFF found fault with the schools, and their poor grasp of privacy, not Google itself.
I know this is an Apple-centered site but Jesus, you'll bend over backwards to twist a source to suite the 'Google is the worst tech company ever" mentality, won't you? Other commenters saying things like "Google needs to die" - Really, a hell of a lot more people use Google than Apple devices, so it terms of impact on the world, I think it should be the other way around.
And yes, before anyone says "well you're on an Apple Fanboy site so", I created an account solely for this comment. Seriously, be rational, mature adults. Get out of your iCaves and stop hiding from what you don't like.
Wrong... Not blaming Google is like not blaming the pusher...
Aside from this particular issue, Google has a long record of stealing people's data. It first got exposed when they traveled around residential neighborhoods collecting and storing people's WiFi data. European countries prosecuted them, the U.S. ignored it and continues to ignore similar invasions of privacy...
The Google apologists are pretty ridiculous. While the schools should appropriately be blamed for their lax attitudes toward security and privacy, Google by no means is off the hook.
They DO take advantage of the situation and collect information from children. It is easy to see why they would want to. Those kids preferences today will be tomorrow's trends. Still, Google should honor the privacy rights of those who cannot understand or defend them. But the schools give Google access and they take full advantage and then blame the schools. Well, most teachers and administrators have only a rudimentary understanding of technology. They simply trust Google. They should do more, but Google has the technology experts and take advantage of the naïveté of the school districts. Google offers lowest prices up front for the hardware and services. But make no mistake. Google is just as lustful for profits as Apple and Microsoft. At least Apple and Microsoft are honest. Google is totally dishonest. The children's personal info is being harvested as the profit source. The schools themselves get a break.
It is why my children went to private schools. It just means more a divide develops in our society. The people who can afford such will have privacy. Those who can't will have their profiles owned by Google.
The Google apologists are pretty ridiculous. While the schools should appropriately be blamed for their lax attitudes toward security and privacy, Google by no means is off the hook.
They DO take advantage of the situation and collect information from children. It is easy to see why they would want to. Those kids preferences today will be tomorrow's trends. Still, Google should honor the privacy rights of those who cannot understand or defend them. But the schools give Google access and they take full advantage and then blame the schools. Well, most teachers and administrators have only a rudimentary understanding of technology. They simply trust Google. They should do more, but Google has the technology experts and take advantage of the naïveté of the school districts. Google offers lowest prices up front for the hardware and services. But make no mistake. Google is just as lustful for profits as Apple and Microsoft. At least Apple and Microsoft are honest. Google is totally dishonest. The children's personal info is being harvested as the profit source. The schools themselves get a break.
It is why my children went to private schools. It just means more a divide develops in our society. The people who can afford such will have privacy. Those who can't will have their profiles owned by Google.
Your children's personally identifiable profiles (and yours too) are owned and resold by companies like Oracle/Datalogix, Acxiom, and hundreds of others like them. Even your childrens' private school almost certainly added a little to those companies hordes of data on your family. With just your address I could purchase a nicely detailed portfolio to discover almost anything I wanted to know about you, and THAT'S what should be scary.
While Google might (or might not) present an ad to you based on your apparent interests (and really that's about it), they will NOT sell you and your families highly personal information ranging from names, ages, and addresses to the doctors you use, the prescriptions you take, the church you attend, your childrens' school history, what you bought at the grocery store, your work history, and legal dealings, and the entire detailed financial picture of your family and even extended family. Try to keep Experion or Oracle, companies-you-never-heard-of-like Plaid or Yodlee, or others from doing that. You can't. At least with Google you can opt-out, or better yet stay off-line where they have little to no presence.
While "fear of Google" may have some validity depending on your privacy expectations, it's hardly the danger that you and others keep beating the drum over. You need to open your eyes to who and what is truly stealing and selling you. It ain't Google you should be focusing on for "selling you".
The Google apologists are pretty ridiculous. While the schools should appropriately be blamed for their lax attitudes toward security and privacy, Google by no means is off the hook.
They DO take advantage of the situation and collect information from children. It is easy to see why they would want to. Those kids preferences today will be tomorrow's trends. Still, Google should honor the privacy rights of those who cannot understand or defend them. But the schools give Google access and they take full advantage and then blame the schools. Well, most teachers and administrators have only a rudimentary understanding of technology. They simply trust Google. They should do more, but Google has the technology experts and take advantage of the naïveté of the school districts. Google offers lowest prices up front for the hardware and services. But make no mistake. Google is just as lustful for profits as Apple and Microsoft. At least Apple and Microsoft are honest. Google is totally dishonest. The children's personal info is being harvested as the profit source. The schools themselves get a break.
It is why my children went to private schools. It just means more a divide develops in our society. The people who can afford such will have privacy. Those who can't will have their profiles owned by Google.
Your children's personally identifiable profiles (and yours too) are owned and resold by companies like Oracle/Datalogix, Acxiom, and hundreds of others like them. Even your childrens' private school almost certainly added a little to those companies hordes of data on your family.
I am going to say something I heard my mother say hundreds of times growing up.
If all of your friends jump off of a cliff, does that mean you should do it?
I could care less that other companies are doing it. Am I totally clear on that?!? It absolutely, unequivocally does not give Google the right to do it. Especially to my children!!!!!
And if they do it, it is on a far smaller scale than Google.
Wow what a pathetic argument. OJ Simpson committed murder and got away with it. So do many others. It means it is okay for me to do so too.
Samsung needs to eliminate Google from their hardware in the same way Apple is doing.
The Google apologists are pretty ridiculous. While the schools should appropriately be blamed for their lax attitudes toward security and privacy, Google by no means is off the hook.
They DO take advantage of the situation and collect information from children. It is easy to see why they would want to. Those kids preferences today will be tomorrow's trends. Still, Google should honor the privacy rights of those who cannot understand or defend them. But the schools give Google access and they take full advantage and then blame the schools. Well, most teachers and administrators have only a rudimentary understanding of technology. They simply trust Google. They should do more, but Google has the technology experts and take advantage of the naïveté of the school districts. Google offers lowest prices up front for the hardware and services. But make no mistake. Google is just as lustful for profits as Apple and Microsoft. At least Apple and Microsoft are honest. Google is totally dishonest. The children's personal info is being harvested as the profit source. The schools themselves get a break.
It is why my children went to private schools. It just means more a divide develops in our society. The people who can afford such will have privacy. Those who can't will have their profiles owned by Google.
Your children's personally identifiable profiles (and yours too) are owned and resold by companies like Oracle/Datalogix, Acxiom, and hundreds of others like them. Even your childrens' private school almost certainly added a little to those companies hordes of data on your family.
I am going to say something I heard my mother say hundreds of times growing up.
If all of your friends jump off of a cliff, does that mean you should do it?
I could care less that other companies are doing it. Am I totally clear on that?!? It absolutely, unequivocally does not give Google the right to do it. Especially to my children!!!!!
And if they do it, it is on a far smaller scale than Google.
Wow what a pathetic argument. OJ Simpson committed murder and got away with it. So do many others. It means it is okay for me to do so too.
Samsung needs to eliminate Google from their hardware in the same way Apple is doing.
Just a response to the bolded line - It is never going to happen, except in your pipe dreams forever. Just to reiterate, Samsung CANNOT sell Tizen powered devices for more than $100. Anything more than $100, nobody in this world is going to pick it up. Period. Even windows phones had few takers (may be in hundreds if not thousands) for devices even for $500 once upon a time. Tizen will NEVER reach that peak which windows phone achieved. That is some level of underachievement by MS and Samsung is going to do worser than that!!!. Forget about comparing Tizen powered phones with Android.
The Google apologists are pretty ridiculous. While the schools should appropriately be blamed for their lax attitudes toward security and privacy, Google by no means is off the hook.
They DO take advantage of the situation and collect information from children. It is easy to see why they would want to. Those kids preferences today will be tomorrow's trends. Still, Google should honor the privacy rights of those who cannot understand or defend them. But the schools give Google access and they take full advantage and then blame the schools. Well, most teachers and administrators have only a rudimentary understanding of technology. They simply trust Google. They should do more, but Google has the technology experts and take advantage of the naïveté of the school districts. Google offers lowest prices up front for the hardware and services. But make no mistake. Google is just as lustful for profits as Apple and Microsoft. At least Apple and Microsoft are honest. Google is totally dishonest. The children's personal info is being harvested as the profit source. The schools themselves get a break.
It is why my children went to private schools. It just means more a divide develops in our society. The people who can afford such will have privacy. Those who can't will have their profiles owned by Google.
Your children's personally identifiable profiles (and yours too) are owned and resold by companies like Oracle/Datalogix, Acxiom, and hundreds of others like them. Even your childrens' private school almost certainly added a little to those companies hordes of data on your family.
I am going to say something I heard my mother say hundreds of times growing up.
If all of your friends jump off of a cliff, does that mean you should do it?
I could care less that other companies are doing it.
And there lies the problem.
In your verve to paint an Apple competitor in the harshest possible light you'll do your family a disservice by not making them aware of the true privacy thieves they encounter on a near-daily basis. Head-in-the-sand is not a terribly effective protection mechanism
Google has nowhere near the quantity and quality of information a company like Acxiom possesses... and actually sells. Yet you don't care, lumping them in as no more invasive or dangerous to your personal privacy than an ad. You're apparently not as cognizant of what is going on right in front of you as I had thought.
If privacy is such a huge issue for you and some others here why is it that no one but myself (and occasionally Blah) even attempts to make the forum members aware of the daily buying and selling of personal data. Instead you make believe it's all about a single company, a regular drumbeat of "oooh, Google" whenever privacy is mentioned. I would posit that it's not really about Google and privacy at all. It's simply become a favored meme to use against Google as some imagined Apple competitor. FWIW Apple has no real competition today.
IMHO If you were truly concerned about your family's privacy and how to protect it you wouldn't be focused so tightly on just a single one of the "infringers", and a relatively harmless and secure one at that, one who won't keep you from borrowing money, getting insurance, moving into an apartment or getting a job like the true privacy invaders such as Experion do on a regular basis.
When your kid goes to buy a car they won't be checking with Google to see if he/she is a safe bet, who they are, and even who you are. So how did they find that stuff in your docket? Your children's school, your bank, your employer and your credit card companies give it (sold it) to them.
In any even, getting back to what started my responses: It will be obvious to anyone who takes the time to read the original EFF report that Mr. Dilger cherry-picked quotes from that Google wasn't getting their blame. In effect many of the privacy issues they mentioned could apply to user's of an iPad in school instead of a Chromebook. It's not the particular device or manufacturer, it's the inattention/lack of knowledge on the part of school administrators. IMO Mr. Dilger does a disservice to student privacy efforts by (purposefully?) obfuscating the actual issues the EFF is calling attention to in this latest report.
But with that out of the way here's a place where Google could make a difference and I hope they do: Seriously emphasize the importance of student privacy considerations and the proper setting up and secure storage of student accounts at the school level no matter whose devices, software or programs are being used. I hope this EFF report prods them to be more proactive. They may not be at fault, but they can make things better through their influence.
The Google apologists are pretty ridiculous. While the schools should appropriately be blamed for their lax attitudes toward security and privacy, Google by no means is off the hook.
They DO take advantage of the situation and collect information from children. It is easy to see why they would want to. Those kids preferences today will be tomorrow's trends. Still, Google should honor the privacy rights of those who cannot understand or defend them. But the schools give Google access and they take full advantage and then blame the schools. Well, most teachers and administrators have only a rudimentary understanding of technology. They simply trust Google. They should do more, but Google has the technology experts and take advantage of the naïveté of the school districts. Google offers lowest prices up front for the hardware and services. But make no mistake. Google is just as lustful for profits as Apple and Microsoft. At least Apple and Microsoft are honest. Google is totally dishonest. The children's personal info is being harvested as the profit source. The schools themselves get a break.
It is why my children went to private schools. It just means more a divide develops in our society. The people who can afford such will have privacy. Those who can't will have their profiles owned by Google.
Your children's personally identifiable profiles (and yours too) are owned and resold by companies like Oracle/Datalogix, Acxiom, and hundreds of others like them. Even your childrens' private school almost certainly added a little to those companies hordes of data on your family.
I am going to say something I heard my mother say hundreds of times growing up.
If all of your friends jump off of a cliff, does that mean you should do it?
I could care less that other companies are doing it.
And there lies the problem.
In your verve to paint an Apple competitor in the harshest possible light you'll do your family a disservice by not making them aware of the true privacy thieves they encounter on a near-daily basis. Head-in-the-sand is not a terribly effective protection mechanism
Google has nowhere near the quantity and quality of information a company like Acxiom possesses... and actually sells. Yet you don't care, lumping them in as no more invasive or dangerous to your personal privacy than an ad. You're apparently not as cognizant of what is going on right in front of you as I had thought.
Right. In the early days, I used Lucent's LPWA. These days I pay to VPN to Anonymizers servers. I purge the cookie files on my browser on a daily basis.
I doubt that Acxiom can collect any data even from my ISP. Perhaps Amazon is selling them my purchasing info. I will be checking into it for certain. My family and my children understand the value of anonymous surfing also. Needless to say, they also VPN into servers that anonymize their browsing habits.
Acxiom collects data for certain. They are worse than Google. But then again, Google collects data in ways that Acxiom cannot. If I use Google maps, Google Chrome or Google email, Google collects the data. It's actually far more precise than what Acxiom collects. Only Facebook, and Amazon among the big companies can collect even more more precise data than Google.
I am not naive to this kind of activity. And I do care. It's why I buy my media. I don't stream it. Unless Amazon is doing something sinister behind the scenes, I will continue to buy products from them. I do think they do a form of advertising in putting suggested products on the pages I peruse. But I am fairly certain they consider the data they have on me as too valuable to sell to companies like Google and Acxiom.
Did the schools where my children attended not like the VPN? They didn't like it at all. But with the threat of being able to pull my children from the school along with the tuition, they tolerated it. All the stuff about the profile not being supported and how they needed to monitor what my children were looking at rang hollow.
So go on and think what you want. It still does not exonerate Google. I don't care what Acxiom is doing. They are a problem too. But if people are willing to give away their profiles for "free" services. So be it. Children cannot make those kinds of decisions. And their privacy should be honored, not violated.
The Google apologists are pretty ridiculous. While the schools should appropriately be blamed for their lax attitudes toward security and privacy, Google by no means is off the hook.
They DO take advantage of the situation and collect information from children. It is easy to see why they would want to. Those kids preferences today will be tomorrow's trends. Still, Google should honor the privacy rights of those who cannot understand or defend them. But the schools give Google access and they take full advantage and then blame the schools. Well, most teachers and administrators have only a rudimentary understanding of technology. They simply trust Google. They should do more, but Google has the technology experts and take advantage of the naïveté of the school districts. Google offers lowest prices up front for the hardware and services. But make no mistake. Google is just as lustful for profits as Apple and Microsoft. At least Apple and Microsoft are honest. Google is totally dishonest. The children's personal info is being harvested as the profit source. The schools themselves get a break.
It is why my children went to private schools. It just means more a divide develops in our society. The people who can afford such will have privacy. Those who can't will have their profiles owned by Google.
Your children's personally identifiable profiles (and yours too) are owned and resold by companies like Oracle/Datalogix, Acxiom, and hundreds of others like them. Even your childrens' private school almost certainly added a little to those companies hordes of data on your family.
I am going to say something I heard my mother say hundreds of times growing up.
If all of your friends jump off of a cliff, does that mean you should do it?
I could care less that other companies are doing it.
And there lies the problem.
In your verve to paint an Apple competitor in the harshest possible light you'll do your family a disservice by not making them aware of the true privacy thieves they encounter on a near-daily basis. Head-in-the-sand is not a terribly effective protection mechanism
Google has nowhere near the quantity and quality of information a company like Acxiom possesses... and actually sells. Yet you don't care, lumping them in as no more invasive or dangerous to your personal privacy than an ad. You're apparently not as cognizant of what is going on right in front of you as I had thought.
If privacy is such a huge issue for you and some others here why is it that no one but myself (and occasionally Blah) even attempts to make the forum members aware of the daily buying and selling of personal data. Instead you make believe it's all about a single company, a regular drumbeat of "oooh, Google" whenever privacy is mentioned. I would posit that it's not really about Google and privacy at all. It's simply become a favored meme to use against Google as some imagined Apple competitor. FWIW Apple has no real competition today.
IMHO If you were truly concerned about your family's privacy and how to protect it you wouldn't be focused so tightly on just a single one of the "infringers", and a relatively harmless and secure one at that, one who won't keep you from borrowing money, getting insurance, moving into an apartment or getting a job like the true privacy invaders such as Experion do on a regular basis.
When your kid goes to buy a car they won't be checking with Google to see if he/she is a safe bet, who they are, and even who you are. So how did they find that stuff in your docket? Your children's school, your bank, your employer and your credit card companies give it (sold it) to them.
In any even, getting back to what started my responses: It will be obvious to anyone who takes the time to read the original EFF report that Mr. Dilger cherry-picked quotes from that Google wasn't getting their blame. In effect many of the privacy issues they mentioned could apply to user's of an iPad in school instead of a Chromebook. It's not the particular device or manufacturer, it's the inattention/lack of knowledge on the part of school administrators. IMO Mr. Dilger does a disservice to student privacy efforts by (purposefully?) obfuscating the actual issues the EFF is calling attention to in this latest report.
But with that out of the way here's a place where Google could make a difference and I hope they do: Seriously emphasize the importance of student privacy considerations and the proper setting up and secure storage of student accounts at the school level no matter whose devices, software or programs are being used. I hope this EFF report prods them to be more proactive. They may not be at fault, but they can make things better through their influence.
It's not all about Google. I know that whenever I purchase something on Amazon that they build a profile on me. I am not that naive. And I know that every credit card and electronic transaction I make is being monitored by the likes of experian. But when my children were young, they did not use credit or debit cards. They used cash.
Experian was collecting that info long before the internet was even in existence. That's nothing new. And if people don't want to build a history of their financial transactions, so be it. They can always purchase products with cash.
However, children in schools are not given a choice. They are told what books they will read and what devices they will use. Especially in the public school district setting. Collecting information from children in that fashion is pretty sleazy. I am sorry. But it is what it is. Acxiom isn't providing the devices for collecting their data to schools. Google is. Sorry. Try again.
The Google apologists are pretty ridiculous. While the schools should appropriately be blamed for their lax attitudes toward security and privacy, Google by no means is off the hook.
They DO take advantage of the situation and collect information from children. It is easy to see why they would want to. Those kids preferences today will be tomorrow's trends. Still, Google should honor the privacy rights of those who cannot understand or defend them. But the schools give Google access and they take full advantage and then blame the schools. Well, most teachers and administrators have only a rudimentary understanding of technology. They simply trust Google. They should do more, but Google has the technology experts and take advantage of the naïveté of the school districts. Google offers lowest prices up front for the hardware and services. But make no mistake. Google is just as lustful for profits as Apple and Microsoft. At least Apple and Microsoft are honest. Google is totally dishonest. The children's personal info is being harvested as the profit source. The schools themselves get a break.
It is why my children went to private schools. It just means more a divide develops in our society. The people who can afford such will have privacy. Those who can't will have their profiles owned by Google.
Your children's personally identifiable profiles (and yours too) are owned and resold by companies like Oracle/Datalogix, Acxiom, and hundreds of others like them. Even your childrens' private school almost certainly added a little to those companies hordes of data on your family.
I am going to say something I heard my mother say hundreds of times growing up.
If all of your friends jump off of a cliff, does that mean you should do it?
I could care less that other companies are doing it. Am I totally clear on that?!? It absolutely, unequivocally does not give Google the right to do it. Especially to my children!!!!!
And if they do it, it is on a far smaller scale than Google.
Wow what a pathetic argument. OJ Simpson committed murder and got away with it. So do many others. It means it is okay for me to do so too.
Samsung needs to eliminate Google from their hardware in the same way Apple is doing.
Just a response to the bolded line - It is never going to happen, except in your pipe dreams forever. Just to reiterate, Samsung CANNOT sell Tizen powered devices for more than $100. Anything more than $100, nobody in this world is going to pick it up. Period. Even windows phones had few takers (may be in hundreds if not thousands) for devices even for $500 once upon a time. Tizen will NEVER reach that peak which windows phone achieved. That is some level of underachievement by MS and Samsung is going to do worser than that!!!. Forget about comparing Tizen powered phones with Android.
Samsung sold the Z2 in India. Guess the price? Hint: it's under $100. And the largest seller of smartphones in India? Samsung. Everybsmart TV sold by Samsung comes with Tizen. Every smartwatch and every AR product they sell. They make a whole range of home appliances and all are ripe for their own IoT chips running Tizen.
Samsung has just achieved monopoly status on small screen OLED panels. Their mobile division can get them at prices no other Android OEM can.
20 years ago, when I said Samsung would overtake Sony in televisions people were even more scornful then. Where are they now? Let's revisit this in another 10 years. When Samsung and Apple control the entire range of mobile devices.
The Google apologists are pretty ridiculous. While the schools should appropriately be blamed for their lax attitudes toward security and privacy, Google by no means is off the hook.
They DO take advantage of the situation and collect information from children. It is easy to see why they would want to. Those kids preferences today will be tomorrow's trends. Still, Google should honor the privacy rights of those who cannot understand or defend them. But the schools give Google access and they take full advantage and then blame the schools. Well, most teachers and administrators have only a rudimentary understanding of technology. They simply trust Google. They should do more, but Google has the technology experts and take advantage of the naïveté of the school districts. Google offers lowest prices up front for the hardware and services. But make no mistake. Google is just as lustful for profits as Apple and Microsoft. At least Apple and Microsoft are honest. Google is totally dishonest. The children's personal info is being harvested as the profit source. The schools themselves get a break.
It is why my children went to private schools. It just means more a divide develops in our society. The people who can afford such will have privacy. Those who can't will have their profiles owned by Google.
Your children's personally identifiable profiles (and yours too) are owned and resold by companies like Oracle/Datalogix, Acxiom, and hundreds of others like them. Even your childrens' private school almost certainly added a little to those companies hordes of data on your family.
I am going to say something I heard my mother say hundreds of times growing up.
If all of your friends jump off of a cliff, does that mean you should do it?
I could care less that other companies are doing it.
And there lies the problem.
In your verve to paint an Apple competitor in the harshest possible light you'll do your family a disservice by not making them aware of the true privacy thieves they encounter on a near-daily basis. Head-in-the-sand is not a terribly effective protection mechanism
Google has nowhere near the quantity and quality of information a company like Acxiom possesses... and actually sells. Yet you don't care, lumping them in as no more invasive or dangerous to your personal privacy than an ad. You're apparently not as cognizant of what is going on right in front of you as I had thought.
If privacy is such a huge issue for you and some others here why is it that no one but myself (and occasionally Blah) even attempts to make the forum members aware of the daily buying and selling of personal data. Instead you make believe it's all about a single company, a regular drumbeat of "oooh, Google" whenever privacy is mentioned. I would posit that it's not really about Google and privacy at all. It's simply become a favored meme to use against Google as some imagined Apple competitor. FWIW Apple has no real competition today.
IMHO If you were truly concerned about your family's privacy and how to protect it you wouldn't be focused so tightly on just a single one of the "infringers", and a relatively harmless and secure one at that, one who won't keep you from borrowing money, getting insurance, moving into an apartment or getting a job like the true privacy invaders such as Experion do on a regular basis.
When your kid goes to buy a car they won't be checking with Google to see if he/she is a safe bet, who they are, and even who you are. So how did they find that stuff in your docket? Your children's school, your bank, your employer and your credit card companies give it (sold it) to them.
In any even, getting back to what started my responses: It will be obvious to anyone who takes the time to read the original EFF report that Mr. Dilger cherry-picked quotes from that Google wasn't getting their blame. In effect many of the privacy issues they mentioned could apply to user's of an iPad in school instead of a Chromebook. It's not the particular device or manufacturer, it's the inattention/lack of knowledge on the part of school administrators. IMO Mr. Dilger does a disservice to student privacy efforts by (purposefully?) obfuscating the actual issues the EFF is calling attention to in this latest report.
But with that out of the way here's a place where Google could make a difference and I hope they do: Seriously emphasize the importance of student privacy considerations and the proper setting up and secure storage of student accounts at the school level no matter whose devices, software or programs are being used. I hope this EFF report prods them to be more proactive. They may not be at fault, but they can make things better through their influence.
It's not all about Google. I know that whenever I purchase something on Amazon that they build a profile on me. I am not that naive. And I know that every credit card and electronic transaction I make is being monitored by the likes of experian. But when my children were young, they did not use credit or debit cards. They used cash.
Experian was collecting that info long before the internet was even in existence. That's nothing new. And if people don't want to build a history of their financial transactions, so be it. They can always purchase products with cash.
However, children in schools are not given a choice. They are told what books they will read and what devices they will use. Especially in the public school district setting. Collecting information from children in that fashion is pretty sleazy. I am sorry. But it is what it is. Acxiom isn't providing the devices for collecting their data to schools. Google is. Sorry. Try again.
The EFF report isn't claiming that it's Google collecting the student data (and still it wouldn't be used for advertising anyway which is all Google does for monetizing data). No, it's the "3rd parties" that concern the EFF in this most recent report, ie companies that are not Google. That's why the AI article as written doesn't do any favors for those who really should understand what the concerns are.
The Google apologists are pretty ridiculous. While the schools should appropriately be blamed for their lax attitudes toward security and privacy, Google by no means is off the hook.
They DO take advantage of the situation and collect information from children. It is easy to see why they would want to. Those kids preferences today will be tomorrow's trends. Still, Google should honor the privacy rights of those who cannot understand or defend them. But the schools give Google access and they take full advantage and then blame the schools. Well, most teachers and administrators have only a rudimentary understanding of technology. They simply trust Google. They should do more, but Google has the technology experts and take advantage of the naïveté of the school districts. Google offers lowest prices up front for the hardware and services. But make no mistake. Google is just as lustful for profits as Apple and Microsoft. At least Apple and Microsoft are honest. Google is totally dishonest. The children's personal info is being harvested as the profit source. The schools themselves get a break.
It is why my children went to private schools. It just means more a divide develops in our society. The people who can afford such will have privacy. Those who can't will have their profiles owned by Google.
Your children's personally identifiable profiles (and yours too) are owned and resold by companies like Oracle/Datalogix, Acxiom, and hundreds of others like them. Even your childrens' private school almost certainly added a little to those companies hordes of data on your family.
I am going to say something I heard my mother say hundreds of times growing up.
If all of your friends jump off of a cliff, does that mean you should do it?
I could care less that other companies are doing it.
And there lies the problem.
In your verve to paint an Apple competitor in the harshest possible light you'll do your family a disservice by not making them aware of the true privacy thieves they encounter on a near-daily basis. Head-in-the-sand is not a terribly effective protection mechanism
Google has nowhere near the quantity and quality of information a company like Acxiom possesses... and actually sells. Yet you don't care, lumping them in as no more invasive or dangerous to your personal privacy than an ad. You're apparently not as cognizant of what is going on right in front of you as I had thought.
If privacy is such a huge issue for you and some others here why is it that no one but myself (and occasionally Blah) even attempts to make the forum members aware of the daily buying and selling of personal data. Instead you make believe it's all about a single company, a regular drumbeat of "oooh, Google" whenever privacy is mentioned. I would posit that it's not really about Google and privacy at all. It's simply become a favored meme to use against Google as some imagined Apple competitor. FWIW Apple has no real competition today.
IMHO If you were truly concerned about your family's privacy and how to protect it you wouldn't be focused so tightly on just a single one of the "infringers", and a relatively harmless and secure one at that, one who won't keep you from borrowing money, getting insurance, moving into an apartment or getting a job like the true privacy invaders such as Experion do on a regular basis.
When your kid goes to buy a car they won't be checking with Google to see if he/she is a safe bet, who they are, and even who you are. So how did they find that stuff in your docket? Your children's school, your bank, your employer and your credit card companies give it (sold it) to them.
In any even, getting back to what started my responses: It will be obvious to anyone who takes the time to read the original EFF report that Mr. Dilger cherry-picked quotes from that Google wasn't getting their blame. In effect many of the privacy issues they mentioned could apply to user's of an iPad in school instead of a Chromebook. It's not the particular device or manufacturer, it's the inattention/lack of knowledge on the part of school administrators. IMO Mr. Dilger does a disservice to student privacy efforts by (purposefully?) obfuscating the actual issues the EFF is calling attention to in this latest report.
But with that out of the way here's a place where Google could make a difference and I hope they do: Seriously emphasize the importance of student privacy considerations and the proper setting up and secure storage of student accounts at the school level no matter whose devices, software or programs are being used. I hope this EFF report prods them to be more proactive. They may not be at fault, but they can make things better through their influence.
It's not all about Google... Experian was collecting that info long before the internet was even in existence. That's nothing new. And if people don't want to build a history of their financial transactions, so be it. They can always purchase products with cash.
Paying with cash won't keep a company like Acxiom or Experian from putting together a dossier on you.
There's lots of transactions and daily interactions with companies and organizations and government that get fed into the machine. No internet use needed. And all of those data aggregators can be much more confident they're actually dealing with you than Google can where your kid, wife, brother, friend, or acquaintance may be the one using your device at the moment. So Google doesn't know as much about the real-life you as you think they do IMHO. I know they have me pegged wrong in several places, but it doesn't really matter for placing an ad. Close is good enough...
... but not when you go to the bank, school, work or car dealer. They KNOW who you are, what you have, and what you do more certainly than Google ever could.
The author is free to correct me if mistaken but in this latest report the EFF is not claiming Google is "spying" on schoolchildren, nor is Google attempting to collect data about children that they should not. The way I've read the report is that schools themselves are not handling student privacy in the manner they should. The way the article was written implies over and over that this is Google doing something onerous, which is not what the EFF is saying is it?
Edited for clarification
First of all GatorGuy I need to say that your usually well-composed & well-thought comments to the Appleinsider website being a new perspective for many readers like myself.
But I have to ask,
Do you own ANY Apple products?
Are you in the employ of or receive a paycheck from Alphabet or a related company?
You spend a lot of time supporting Google on this site.
The author is free to correct me if mistaken but in this latest report the EFF is not claiming Google is "spying" on schoolchildren, nor is Google attempting to collect data about children that they should not. The way I've read the report is that schools themselves are not handling student privacy in the manner they should. The way the article was written implies over and over that this is Google doing something onerous, which is not what the EFF is saying is it?
Edited for clarification
First of all GatorGuy I need to say that your usually well-composed & well-thought comments to the Appleinsider website being a new perspective for many readers like myself.
But I have to ask,
Do you own ANY Apple products?
Are you in the employ of or receive a paycheck from Alphabet or a related company?
You spend a lot of time supporting Google on this site.
Yes I own Apple products. No I have no connection whatsoever to Google or any Google-related company or partner No I don't own stock in Alphabet. No, I'm not supporting Google on this site. -I just have a low tolerance for FUD and occasional outright dishonesty which I wish more folks shared a concern about. Apple FUD is quickly dealt with from multiple members. Google FUD is too often promoted as fact with few willing to question it, which is why I look like an outlier. I'm not, it's just that while most here have zero tolerance for Apple-related misinformation they seem more willing (some even anxious) to believe whatever is said about competitors, with Google as a perceived competitor often the target. That doesn't benefit anyone does it? As Daniel asked me, why don't we want to accept the truth? We should.
I suspect you and other regulars have learned a few things from me that you weren't aware of, just as I've learned from you. It's mutually beneficial whether some here want to admit it or not.
It's nice to see commenters on here debunking the heavy implications of unfounded lies in this 'news' article. As they have detailed, the EFF found fault with the schools, and their poor grasp of privacy, not Google itself.
I know this is an Apple-centered site but Jesus, you'll bend over backwards to twist a source to suite the 'Google is the worst tech company ever" mentality, won't you? Other commenters saying things like "Google needs to die" - Really, a hell of a lot more people use Google than Apple devices, so it terms of impact on the world, I think it should be the other way around.
And yes, before anyone says "well you're on an Apple Fanboy site so", I created an account solely for this comment. Seriously, be rational, mature adults. Get out of your iCaves and stop hiding from what you don't like.
It's nice to see commenters on here debunking the heavy implications of unfounded lies in this 'news' article. As they have detailed, the EFF found fault with the schools, and their poor grasp of privacy, not Google itself.
I know this is an Apple-centered site but Jesus, you'll bend over backwards to twist a source to suite the 'Google is the worst tech company ever" mentality, won't you? Other commenters saying things like "Google needs to die" - Really, a hell of a lot more people use Google than Apple devices, so it terms of impact on the world, I think it should be the other way around.
And yes, before anyone says "well you're on an Apple Fanboy site so", I created an account solely for this comment. Seriously, be rational, mature adults. Get out of your iCaves and stop hiding from what you don't like.
LOL.... it's the over the top articles and hysterical comment section that makes me come here daily. I love this site! The site is so ridiculous that it actually does Apple a disservice. There's other wacky Apple fan sites, but this one is the best.
We love you. I mean we need clueless Fandroids. You should post a bit more.
LOL.... it's the over the top articles and hysterical comment section that makes me come here daily. I love this site! The site is so ridiculous that it actually does Apple a disservice. There's other wacky Apple fan sites, but this one is the best.
We love you. I mean we need clueless Fandroids. You should post a bit more.
I don't own any Android products, but I do have an iPad and an iPhone. When I got my first iPad in 2011, I loved it and started coming to sites like this to learn more about it. I was shocked at how nasty and obnoxious the Apple users were. (Are Android users the same? I don't own any Android devices so I don't go to those sites).
gatorguy said: Taht old article may have had some factual basis. Really can't remember for certain, but has nothing to do with this new report from the EFF does it? I'm sure it wasn't intentional on the AI author's part but what the EFF had to say today and the way this article reported it are somewhat different. It's almost as tho the AI author is trying to pin the blame on Google which is not what the EFF claims.
If you actually go to the lengthy linked paper and press command+f, control+f for you most likely, then type the word Google, you will find that word appears 60 times. If you simply read only the sentences with the highlighted term you will be able to quickly verify that the EFF is in no way backing away from their original complaint about Google regarding child privacy concerns and even though this is a new report it restates the same issues found in the original complaint from 2015.
LOL.... it's the over the top articles and hysterical comment section that makes me come here daily. I love this site! The site is so ridiculous that it actually does Apple a disservice. There's other wacky Apple fan sites, but this one is the best.
We love you. I mean we need clueless Fandroids. You should post a bit more.
I don't own any Android products, but I do have an iPad and an iPhone. When I got my first iPad in 2011, I loved it and started coming to sites like this to learn more about it. I was shocked at how nasty and obnoxious the Apple users were. (Are Android users the same? I don't own any Android devices so I don't go to those sites).
Android fanboys are even worse in other forums. I do read GSMArena and AnandTech and I can confidently say that. Within that group you get a variety of them - A minority number of people with common sense, Samsung fanboys, Samsung haters, Sony fanboys, sony haters, apple fanboys, apple haters, etc etc. It is real fun (and boring at the same time) reading those comments. To read 1 post with good information, you have to read 10 posts worth of non-sense.
Comments
Not blaming Google is like not blaming the pusher...
Aside from this particular issue, Google has a long record of stealing people's data. It first got exposed when they traveled around residential neighborhoods collecting and storing people's WiFi data. European countries prosecuted them, the U.S. ignored it and continues to ignore similar invasions of privacy...
They DO take advantage of the situation and collect information from children. It is easy to see why they would want to. Those kids preferences today will be tomorrow's trends. Still, Google should honor the privacy rights of those who cannot understand or defend them. But the schools give Google access and they take full advantage and then blame the schools. Well, most teachers and administrators have only a rudimentary understanding of technology. They simply trust Google. They should do more, but Google has the technology experts and take advantage of the naïveté of the school districts. Google offers lowest prices up front for the hardware and services. But make no mistake. Google is just as lustful for profits as Apple and Microsoft. At least Apple and Microsoft are honest. Google is totally dishonest. The children's personal info is being harvested as the profit source. The schools themselves get a break.
It is why my children went to private schools. It just means more a divide develops in our society. The people who can afford such will have privacy. Those who can't will have their profiles owned by Google.
While Google might (or might not) present an ad to you based on your apparent interests (and really that's about it), they will NOT sell you and your families highly personal information ranging from names, ages, and addresses to the doctors you use, the prescriptions you take, the church you attend, your childrens' school history, what you bought at the grocery store, your work history, and legal dealings, and the entire detailed financial picture of your family and even extended family. Try to keep Experion or Oracle, companies-you-never-heard-of-like Plaid or Yodlee, or others from doing that. You can't. At least with Google you can opt-out, or better yet stay off-line where they have little to no presence.
While "fear of Google" may have some validity depending on your privacy expectations, it's hardly the danger that you and others keep beating the drum over. You need to open your eyes to who and what is truly stealing and selling you. It ain't Google you should be focusing on for "selling you".
If all of your friends jump off of a cliff, does that mean you should do it?
I could care less that other companies are doing it. Am I totally clear on that?!? It absolutely, unequivocally does not give Google the right to do it. Especially to my children!!!!!
And if they do it, it is on a far smaller scale than Google.
Wow what a pathetic argument. OJ Simpson committed murder and got away with it. So do many others. It means it is okay for me to do so too.
Samsung needs to eliminate Google from their hardware in the same way Apple is doing.
In your verve to paint an Apple competitor in the harshest possible light you'll do your family a disservice by not making them aware of the true privacy thieves they encounter on a near-daily basis. Head-in-the-sand is not a terribly effective protection mechanism
Google has nowhere near the quantity and quality of information a company like Acxiom possesses... and actually sells. Yet you don't care, lumping them in as no more invasive or dangerous to your personal privacy than an ad. You're apparently not as cognizant of what is going on right in front of you as I had thought.
If privacy is such a huge issue for you and some others here why is it that no one but myself (and occasionally Blah) even attempts to make the forum members aware of the daily buying and selling of personal data. Instead you make believe it's all about a single company, a regular drumbeat of "oooh, Google" whenever privacy is mentioned. I would posit that it's not really about Google and privacy at all. It's simply become a favored meme to use against Google as some imagined Apple competitor. FWIW Apple has no real competition today.
IMHO If you were truly concerned about your family's privacy and how to protect it you wouldn't be focused so tightly on just a single one of the "infringers", and a relatively harmless and secure one at that, one who won't keep you from borrowing money, getting insurance, moving into an apartment or getting a job like the true privacy invaders such as Experion do on a regular basis.
When your kid goes to buy a car they won't be checking with Google to see if he/she is a safe bet, who they are, and even who you are. So how did they find that stuff in your docket? Your children's school, your bank, your employer and your credit card companies give it (sold it) to them.
In any even, getting back to what started my responses:
It will be obvious to anyone who takes the time to read the original EFF report that Mr. Dilger cherry-picked quotes from that Google wasn't getting their blame. In effect many of the privacy issues they mentioned could apply to user's of an iPad in school instead of a Chromebook. It's not the particular device or manufacturer, it's the inattention/lack of knowledge on the part of school administrators. IMO Mr. Dilger does a disservice to student privacy efforts by (purposefully?) obfuscating the actual issues the EFF is calling attention to in this latest report.
But with that out of the way here's a place where Google could make a difference and I hope they do: Seriously emphasize the importance of student privacy considerations and the proper setting up and secure storage of student accounts at the school level no matter whose devices, software or programs are being used. I hope this EFF report prods them to be more proactive. They may not be at fault, but they can make things better through their influence.
I doubt that Acxiom can collect any data even from my ISP. Perhaps Amazon is selling them my purchasing info. I will be checking into it for certain. My family and my children understand the value of anonymous surfing also. Needless to say, they also VPN into servers that anonymize their browsing habits.
Acxiom collects data for certain. They are worse than Google. But then again, Google collects data in ways that Acxiom cannot. If I use Google maps, Google Chrome or Google email, Google collects the data. It's actually far more precise than what Acxiom collects. Only Facebook, and Amazon among the big companies can collect even more more precise data than Google.
I am not naive to this kind of activity. And I do care. It's why I buy my media. I don't stream it. Unless Amazon is doing something sinister behind the scenes, I will continue to buy products from them. I do think they do a form of advertising in putting suggested products on the pages I peruse. But I am fairly certain they consider the data they have on me as too valuable to sell to companies like Google and Acxiom.
Did the schools where my children attended not like the VPN? They didn't like it at all. But with the threat of being able to pull my children from the school along with the tuition, they tolerated it. All the stuff about the profile not being supported and how they needed to monitor what my children were looking at rang hollow.
So go on and think what you want. It still does not exonerate Google. I don't care what Acxiom is doing. They are a problem too. But if people are willing to give away their profiles for "free" services. So be it. Children cannot make those kinds of decisions. And their privacy should be honored, not violated.
Experian was collecting that info long before the internet was even in existence. That's nothing new. And if people don't want to build a history of their financial transactions, so be it. They can always purchase products with cash.
However, children in schools are not given a choice. They are told what books they will read and what devices they will use. Especially in the public school district setting. Collecting information from children in that fashion is pretty sleazy. I am sorry. But it is what it is. Acxiom isn't providing the devices for collecting their data to schools. Google is. Sorry. Try again.
Samsung has just achieved monopoly status on small screen OLED panels. Their mobile division can get them at prices no other Android OEM can.
20 years ago, when I said Samsung would overtake Sony in televisions people were even more scornful then. Where are they now? Let's revisit this in another 10 years. When Samsung and Apple control the entire range of mobile devices.
There's lots of transactions and daily interactions with companies and organizations and government that get fed into the machine. No internet use needed. And all of those data aggregators can be much more confident they're actually dealing with you than Google can where your kid, wife, brother, friend, or acquaintance may be the one using your device at the moment. So Google doesn't know as much about the real-life you as you think they do IMHO. I know they have me pegged wrong in several places, but it doesn't really matter for placing an ad. Close is good enough...
... but not when you go to the bank, school, work or car dealer. They KNOW who you are, what you have, and what you do more certainly than Google ever could.
First of all GatorGuy I need to say that your usually well-composed & well-thought comments to the Appleinsider website being a new perspective for many readers like myself.
But I have to ask,
Do you own ANY Apple products?
Are you in the employ of or receive a paycheck from Alphabet or a related company?
You spend a lot of time supporting Google on this site.
No I have no connection whatsoever to Google or any Google-related company or partner
No I don't own stock in Alphabet.
No, I'm not supporting Google on this site.
-I just have a low tolerance for FUD and occasional outright dishonesty which I wish more folks shared a concern about. Apple FUD is quickly dealt with from multiple members. Google FUD is too often promoted as fact with few willing to question it, which is why I look like an outlier. I'm not, it's just that while most here have zero tolerance for Apple-related misinformation they seem more willing (some even anxious) to believe whatever is said about competitors, with Google as a perceived competitor often the target. That doesn't benefit anyone does it? As Daniel asked me, why don't we want to accept the truth? We should.
I suspect you and other regulars have learned a few things from me that you weren't aware of, just as I've learned from you. It's mutually beneficial whether some here want to admit it or not.
Google is the worst company ever.
https://www.thetoptens.com/worst-companies-u-s/
We love you. I mean we need clueless Fandroids. You should post a bit more.
Android fanboys are even worse in other forums. I do read GSMArena and AnandTech and I can confidently say that. Within that group you get a variety of them - A minority number of people with common sense, Samsung fanboys, Samsung haters, Sony fanboys, sony haters, apple fanboys, apple haters, etc etc. It is real fun (and boring at the same time) reading those comments. To read 1 post with good information, you have to read 10 posts worth of non-sense.