Signing away rights using G Suite for Education

When my son started middle school last month, he brought home a slew of consent forms for this that and the other. Most weren’t problematic, but one was deeply troubling to me — the consent form for the Google Education App.

In accordance with the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, the form explained that the Google Education App requires the collection of personal information — student name, school name and grade level, as well as content created by the user. It also informed parents that this information will be stored on servers outside of Canada, and thus will be subject to law enforcement in the U.S., including the Patriot Act.

Source: Opinion: Public schools ask parents to sign away kids’ privacy rights | Vancouver Sun

The writer is in Canada, so the laws are different then the US, and he is wrong on a few items (school name and grade level). But, he does bring up some good points. What does Google do with the information used by G Suite for Education customers?

Google has posted Privacy and Security | Google for Education policy, and answers the questions put forth by the writer of the article.