In 2014, Google was alleged to have violated the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) through its Apps for Education suite of tools. For what specific practice did students sue the company?

In 2014, Google was alleged to have violated the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) through its Apps for Education suite of tools. For what specific practice did students sue the company?
A . Scanning emails sent to and received by students
B . Making student education records publicly available
C . Relying on verbal consent for a disclosure of education records
D . Disclosing education records without obtaining required consent

View Answer

Answer: A

Explanation:

The lawsuit, filed in 2014, claimed that Google violated the federal and state wiretap and privacy laws by scanning and indexing the emails of millions of students who used its Apps for Education suite, which included Gmail as a key feature12. The plaintiffs alleged that Google used the information from the scans to build profiles of students that could be used for targeted advertising or other commercial purposes, without their consent or knowledge12. The lawsuit also challenged Google’s argument that the students consented to the scans when they first logged in to their accounts, saying that such consent was not valid under FERPA, which requires written consent for any disclosure of education records12. Google denied the allegations and argued that the scans were necessary for providing security, spam protection, and other functionality to the users12. The case was settled in 2016, with Google agreeing to change some of its practices and policies regarding the scanning of student emails3.

Reference: 1: Lawsuit Alleges That Google Has Crossed A ‘Creepy Line’ With Student Data, Huffington Post, 1. 2: Google faces lawsuit over email scanning and student data, The Guardian, 2. 3: Google data case to be heard in Supreme Court, BBC, 3.