Educational Technology: Terms of (Dis)Service

Context

Your ed tech platform is widely used in schools. To keep the free version profitable, you collect data from underage users and use it for targeted ads. You have shifted responsibility for parental consent to teachers via hidden clauses in your Terms of Service.

Dilemma

A) Redesign consent systems, use data only for educational purposes, and limit collection.

B) Keep the current system and profit from student data.

Summary

Edmodo, an ed tech platform used by schools, violated the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) by collecting personal data from students under 13 without parental consent. The company used this data for targeted advertising and shifted legal responsibility for consent onto teachers through buried clauses in its Terms of Service. The FTC found this practice deceptive and unfair. As part of a proposed settlement, Edmodo must change its practices and delete data and algorithms collected without proper consent—even though it shut down U.S. operations in 2022.

Resources:

• https://digitalfuturescommission.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/Problems-with-data-governance-in-UK-schools.pdf
• https://www.ftc.gov/business-guidance/blog/2023/05/oh-no-you-dont-edmodo-ftc-sues-ed-tech-company-violating-school-kids-privacy