Is Google mining student data with Apps in Use in Kentucky!

Education Week reports a case is now in federal court accusing Google of improperly mining student data from its Google Apps for Education e-mail system.

Khaliah Barnes, a lawyer with the Electronic Privacy Information Center, or EPIC, a Washington-based advocacy group, said, “Student privacy is under attack.”

And, that attack is here. I did a quick check, and it looks like UK is using this intrusive service here in Kentucky!

I wonder if any other Kentucky schools, both postsecondary and public, are also using this questionable service. I think Kentucky’s K to 12 system switched to a competitor product from Microsoft some time ago, but who can tell if that product is any more secure?

After all, Education Week also says experts told it:

“…the federal law is too antiquated to effectively address the complex privacy concerns raised by such high-tech data mining.”

Also, if Google Apps for Education was in use earlier in Kentucky, what sort of database might they still be maintaining on our kids?

I hope someone in authority gets some answers. We are told our students are protected by federal laws in this area, but those current laws must either be inadequate, or a lot of educators didn’t obey them. And, it is kids who pay the real penalty!