146 online learning apps that collect and sell children’s data-Information Technology

Most services that cater to distance learning invade the privacy of their young users.

Follow EngadgetIn the process of using e-learning to mitigate the COVID-19 pandemic, governments around the world have exposed many children to the risk of personal data being illegally collected and sold. illegal.

In a report published Wednesday (May 25), Human Rights Watch found that many of the apps and services the government uses or recommends for learning telemetry of 2021 is actively collecting data about children or participating in monitoring their activities.

Many distance learning services illegally collect data from young children.

In its research in 49 countries, Human Rights Watch found that 146/164 EdTech (Educational Technology) products used in these countries used data access methods that could make privacy The privacy of young users is at risk, or even has actively compromised personal information.

Those platforms have the ability to use tracking technology to secretly monitor their young users without their or their parents’ consent. Furthermore, their data is often sold to third-party companies.

According to the report, the 146 apps the organization investigated directly submitted or granted access to young users’ data to 196 third-party companies, with the majority of that information going to advertising platforms. adtech. In other words, there are significantly more advertising companies buying children’s data than there are technology companies collecting that data.

Human Rights Watch points out that many of the government-recommended tools for online learning, including Zoom, Microsoft Teams, and Cisco Webex, are not explicitly designed for use by children. But even educational software companies, such as ST Math, often use trackers that send data to Meta and Google. And then, these data can be used for advertising.

The report serves as a further alarm that illegal surveillance has been a matter of concern in recent years.