#WORLD #WORLDWIDE #INTERNATIONAL #HumanRightsWatch #StudentsNotProducts #News #Journal #Update - Think children are safe in school online?

 

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Dear, Children should be safe in school—whether that’s in person or online. When classrooms became virtual almost overnight during the Covid-19 pandemic, the amount of time kids around the world spent on educational technology (EdTech) apps increased by 90%. In the rush to connect children to online classrooms, many governments failed to check that their EdTech recommendations were safe to use. Last year, we released a groundbreaking report that found that the overwhelming majority of the 163 online learning products recommended by 49 governments could or did surveil children. These apps and websites tracked children across the internet, outside school hours, and deep into their private lives. If you picked C, you're right. With the exception of a single government, we found that 48 governments endorsed at least one EdTech product that could or did surveil children online. In most instances, it was impossible for children to opt out of such surveillance without opting out of compulsory education and giving up on formal learning during the pandemic. Did you guess B, 89%? That's correct—89% of theEdTech products we reviewed could or did extract personal information about children. Some used particularly intrusive tactics to do so. And all of this surveillance happened secretly, without children or their families knowing or even asked to consent. Human Rights Watch discovered that many online learning platforms sent or granted access to children’s data to third-party companies specializing in analyzing a person’s data to predict how they might be influenced. These insights might then be used to target children with personalized content that follows them across the web, and to guide them towards outcomes that may or may not be in their best interest. Children are priceless, not products. Governments should pass comprehensive child data protection laws that would compel everyone to protect children online, and hold them accountable if they fail to do so. We’ve seen exciting progress since our report was launched, with several governments and companies having announced or taken steps to protect children online. But we have much more to do to make sure that all children are protected. To learn how you can take action to keep children safe online, follow our campaign, #StudentsNotProducts. Thank you for taking action. Hye Jung Han Researcher and Advocate, Children's Rights Division Human Rights Watch

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