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What’s stored in a school Google Drive account?

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Re: What’s stored in a school Google Drive account?

#11
post #5

I don't understand. What they are describing sounds like Chrome syncing. But you can certainly install Google Drive's sync client without using Chrome/Chrome syncing. Is this a new thing?

They must have signed into Chrome, but Chrome will explicitly tell the user if their data will be accessible to the GSuite administrator[0] so this is likely on them for not fully reading this popup or forgetting about it. 0: https://judge.sh/YILh0ozLX5.png

FWIW, that message with the buttons "Link Data" or "Cancel" is very confusing.

It does not address what pressing "link data" will _actually_ do and what pressing "cancel" will _actually_ do.

Re: What’s stored in a school Google Drive account?

#12
I wonder if some of this is cause by not logging out from everything? You can probably log out of gmail, but not the chrome browser and not realize it. And the browser will still record everything. Or the opposite.

I am a bit curious about some of the claims about sync on iPhone. I don't have one, but is it even possible for another app to reach the internals of Safari? I would think that is locked down. Or are they logged into their google account in the browser? As for google getting the voice and text from a messaging app, how would that be possible unless its an actual google app?

Re: What’s stored in a school Google Drive account?

#13
> “My voice to text was being stored as well as any search my kids did, and I could say ‘sure my daughter was searching on Google,’ but my phone uses Safari. When I used my texting app on my iPhone, it recorded my voice, as well as typing out the words and saving it on my Google Drive,” said Brette Hay, the Ely’s daughter and a teacher at Pershing Middle School.

If it's possible to get voice recordings out of the iMessage app from a separate app (shouldn't be possible from an iMessage app either) this would be a major security hole and Apple would be pissed at google for doing it.

This is almost certainly a misunderstanding of what's actually going on.

Re: What’s stored in a school Google Drive account?

#14
This suggests their main complaint is about logging into Chrome Sync with the EDU account, where expected behavior would be to store and sync history and passwords. (And if you don't keep separate Chrome profiles, obviously that would include everyone using the computer.)

And then they talk about saving voice recordings and transcriptions from their phone messages... I can only guess they did something like configured WhatsApp to store backups on Drive and forgot they had?

EDU accounts should be treated like work accounts: use them only for EDU- or work-related things. Don't visit your bank's website and save the password to Chrome when logged into syncing to your daughter's school account.

On the other hand, asking students, parents, and faculty to fully understand the Chrome login-and-sync model, and how it differs from website logins, may be asking too much. And it can be hard to tell the difference between Chrome sign-in and Apps sign-in, or to realize that signing out of one won't necessarily sign you out of the other.

Re: What’s stored in a school Google Drive account?

#15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They must have signed into Chrome, but Chrome will explicitly tell the user if their data will be accessible to the GSuite administrator[0] so this is likely on them for not fully reading this popup or forgetting about it. 0: https://judge.sh/YILh0ozLX5.png

FWIW, that message with the buttons "Link Data" or "Cancel" is very confusing. It does not address what pressing "link data" will _actually_ do and what pressing "cancel" will _actually_ do.

Exactly. It’s been part of the standard HIG for both Microsoft and Apple not to use “OK” and “Cancel” and instead use more descriptive turns like “Allow Syncing”/“Don’t Allow Syncing” for a decade.

Re: What’s stored in a school Google Drive account?

#16
post #5

I don't understand. What they are describing sounds like Chrome syncing. But you can certainly install Google Drive's sync client without using Chrome/Chrome syncing. Is this a new thing?

Thing is, you shouldn't expect this sort of thing to happen _by default_ Also, kids under 13 have different laws for having data about them in the US, so that's an issue, as well.

> you shouldn't expect this sort of thing to happen _by default_

When I have chrome; it always asks me if I want to save passwords....

To one extent, this is a hard lesson to the parents; Check the security settings on any computer you are using; Check the "features" of every app you install.

To another end, it's a good lesson for the parents and children that school and work supplies are for school and work.

To yet another end, those passwords, if auto generated, are likely much more secure than other ways of storing passwords.

Re: What’s stored in a school Google Drive account?

#17
post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thing is, you shouldn't expect this sort of thing to happen _by default_ Also, kids under 13 have different laws for having data about them in the US, so that's an issue, as well.

I'm pretty sure Google is COPPA compliant and will not let children, without parental consent, sign up for things on their own. However, GSuite for Education may very well introduce a loophole whereby the onus is put on someone else to get that consent. I'm getting that vibe from this knowledge base article: https://support.google.com/a/answer/6356509?hl=en In any case, interesting. This story seems like something Go…

>Google is COPPA compliant and will not let children, without parental consent, sign up for things on their own.

How does Google do that? By having a 13 year old agree to Terms and Conditions/EULA (a legal contract), that the child has no legal authority to enter, which states the child obtained legal consent from the parents?

Re: What’s stored in a school Google Drive account?

#18

> “My voice to text was being stored as well as any search my kids did, and I could say ‘sure my daughter was searching on Google,’ but my phone uses Safari. When I used my texting app on my iPhone, it recorded my voice, as well as typing out the words and saving it on my Google Drive,” said Brette Hay, the Ely’s daughter and a teacher at Pershing Middle School. If it's possible to get voice recordings out of the iMe…

The texting app might not be iMessage

Re: What’s stored in a school Google Drive account?

#19

> “My voice to text was being stored as well as any search my kids did, and I could say ‘sure my daughter was searching on Google,’ but my phone uses Safari. When I used my texting app on my iPhone, it recorded my voice, as well as typing out the words and saving it on my Google Drive,” said Brette Hay, the Ely’s daughter and a teacher at Pershing Middle School. If it's possible to get voice recordings out of the iMe…

The texting app might not be iMessage

It was most likely WhatsApp, which as far as I know allows backing up to Google Drive.
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