
Google’s got our kids - clumsysmurf
https://theoutline.com/post/4436/google-classroom-education-free-software-children-school-tech
======
ocdtrekkie
This isn't a new angle for targeting schools: Apple was famous for it back in
the day. The difference is now it's collecting data on kids.

My family is in a school district which has "gone Google", and Chromebooks are
compulsory. It's so incredibly dystopian. Use Google or fail your education.

~~~
wilsonnb
I don't really see how making them buy or use Chromebooks is more dystopian
than compelling them to purchase or use anything else. That's just how
standardization works, whether it's on the Office suite, a certain textbook,
or a Chromebook.

It's easy to see why the schools want them using Chromebooks. They're easy to
use, low maintenance, and compatible with the Google tools that they
presumably want to use in the whole district. Those are all good reasons to
me.

~~~
ocdtrekkie
Using Microsoft Office doesn't send your data to a Google server. Using Google
Docs does.

Chromebooks aren't significantly lower maintenance than any other managed
fleet of computers. Windows PCs can be quickly and easily imaged and
configured just like a Chromebook. And the physical maintenance is about the
same: Cheap trash laptops they give students tend to break a lot.

~~~
wilsonnb
I personally think that managing Chromebooks is at least a little easier than
other computers, but I see your point that Windows isn't that much worse.

There's something to be said for Chromebook specs, though. I still have a
Samsung Chromebook with a Samsung ARM processor from 2012 and 2GB ram. Using
Windows on that machine would be painful. ChromeOS ain't gonna break any speed
records but it's actually quite usable still.

Also, they should be using G Suite for education which doesn't serve ads and
don't use user data for ad profiles.

The privacy notice says that they collect:

\- device information, such as the hardware model, operating system version,
unique device identifiers, and mobile network information including phone
number of the user

\- log information, including details of how a user used our service, device
event information, and the user's Internet protocol (IP) address

\- location information, as determined by various technologies including IP
address, GPS, and other sensors

\- unique application numbers, such as application version number

\- cookies or similar technologies which are used to collect and store
information about a browser or device, such as preferred language and other
settings

None of that seems egregious to me.

Plus, Office collects information about you too.

[https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/deployoffice/compat/data-
th...](https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/deployoffice/compat/data-that-the-
telemetry-agent-collects-in-office)

[https://gsuite.google.com/terms/education_privacy.html](https://gsuite.google.com/terms/education_privacy.html)

~~~
ocdtrekkie
If I type in a Word document, the data is on the computer.

If I type in a Google Doc, the data is on Google's servers.

There is no equivalency here. Sure, Google can claim that they won't use it
for specific purposes, but they can still use it for a lot of other things,
and most crucially, they can change their policy at any time.

~~~
jacksmith21006
But it makes it so kids can use whatever machine each day. They just log in
and everything is there.

~~~
wilsonnb
Back when I was in high school we just logged into a Windows account and
stored our stuff in a private folder on the network that could be accessed
from any computer.

~~~
jacksmith21006
Chromebooks make it much better. You can use whatever machine you want. Plus
kept private from other users.

Google shared yesterday that CBs grew 50% YoY. That is while Macs and Windows
machines sold less YoY.

