Some News about Google Apps For Education

Hello!

Hi all... the folks at OHDS send me an article that requires more research but.....

We all know - or should know - that Gmail "scans" each email for key words that are then used to put ads on the webpage. This same feature is used to check for SPAM and Malware.  They don't actually "see" the emails, it just scans them to create the ad.

Now, GAFE mail has the option to turn this feature off - which we have done.  We deal with kids so we don't want this info "data-mined."  According to the article below, the "data-mining" feature IS NOT turned off in GAFE.  According to the Google website (I just checked it... https://support.google.com/a/answer/60762?hl=en) the scan feature can not be turned off because it is needed to check for SPAM and Malware.

Now, we don't let our kids see any ads - so that part is fine.  No ads shown no need to panic.  The part that is distressing is that the software still does look EVEN THOUGH GOOGLE USED TO EXPLICITLY DENY THIS!!  As the article states, the key denial has been removed from the GAFE FAQ page.  While I am not panicked, I am upset as I don't like being lied to......

I will follow this closely and if it turns out to be incorrect (which, alas, I think that it is correct) I will let you all know.

the article is:

http://safegov.org/2014/1/31/google-admits-data-mining-student-emails-in-its-free-education-apps

Regards...

Yossie

Yossie FrankelDirector - Consortium for Information and Academic Technologies
Member Schools:
Harkham Hillel Hebrew Academy - yfrankel@hillelhebrew.org
Oakland Hebrew Day School - y.frankel@ohds.orgShalhevet High School - y.frankel@shalhevet.org
Arete Preparatory Academy - yfrankel@areteprep.org
Yeshivat Yavneh - www.yha.org