How to Protect Your Kids From Google Predators

Townhall.com ^ | March 13, 2019 | Michelle Malkin

[Kaslin]

The father of the World Wide Web is right: It's time to take back "complete control of your data."

Tim Berners-Lee, who conceived the first internet browser 30 years ago this week, warned of its increasing threats to "privacy, security and fundamental rights." To mark the anniversary, he argued that demanding transparency is key to stopping the web's "downward plunge to a dysfunctional future." So, where to start?

Berners-Lee specifically cautioned against the dangers of internet browsers' keeping "track of everything you buy." The world's top browser is Google Chrome. But spying on our purchases is the least we have to worry about with Google and its $800 billion parent company, Alphabet.

It's bad enough that the company's executives match your offline credit card purchases to your online user profile without full disclosure, employ mobile tracking apps that collect location data even if users have turned off location tracking, hide and downplay massive security breaches (like the photo-sharing "bug" and hacker-friendly browser "flaws" revealed this past week), bow to Chinese communist censors and apparently exhibit bias against conservatives. No, it's much worse. Google's predation starts early, often with the most vulnerable members of society: our children.

The Silicon Valley giant has hooked legions of children and teachers into its data mining products through lucrative partnerships with public schools across America. Learning no longer starts with A, B, C but with G, G, G:

G Suite, Gmail, Google Cloud, Google Drive, Google Docs, Google Sheets, Google Slides, Google Hangouts, Google Vault, Google Jamboard, Google Chromebooks and Google Classroom.

Don't forget: Google now has 80 million educators and students around the world using G Suite for Education, 40 million students and teachers in Google Classroom and 30 million more using Google Chromebooks inside and outside the classroom. Despite a report last fall from the U.S. Department of Education's inspector general blasting the feds for failing to investigate a backlog of Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act violations, the Trump White House has done nothing to repair the damage to FERPA done by the Obama administration. The Democrats' tech-chummy bureaucrats busted open the door to third-party sharing of children's personal data with government agencies, nonprofits and private educational technology vendors.

This is how Google has gotten away with unauthorized scanning and indexing of student email accounts and targeted online advertising based on search engine activity, as well as auto-syncing of passwords, browsing history and other private data across devices and accounts belonging to students and families unaware of default tracking.

While grandstanding opportunists in Congress now talk tough to Silicon Valley donors (hello, Elizabeth Warren), K-12 children in tens of thousands of schools began the academic year by lining up at the library to create Gmail accounts and Google Classroom logins without parental notification or permission. There's no escape: No Google, no access. No access, no education. "Hell, some of the teachers don't even teach the kids," one parent complained to me. Instead, they "watch videos on Canvas on their Chromebooks."

Canvas (by Instructure) is one of myriad "learning management systems" that stores students' grades, homework assignments, videos, quizzes and tests -- all integrated with almighty, all-powerful, omniscient Google. Google apps such as ClassDojo collect intimate behavioral data and long-term psychological profiles encompassing family information, personal messages, photographs and voice notes. The collection of such data is a nanny state nightmare in the making, as a new Pioneer Institute report on "social, emotional learning" software and assessments outlined this week.

Meanwhile, preschoolers are being trained to flash "Clever Badges" with QR codes in front of their Google Chromebook webcams. These Badges "seamlessly" log them into Google World and all its apps without all the "stress" of remembering passwords. Addicted toddlers are being indoctrinated into the screen time culture without learning how to exercise autonomy over their own data.

Given the privacy breaches, public safety dangers, illegal data profiteering and child predation -- not to mention the mental health crisis among America's youngsters connected to social media pathologies -- there should be a nationwide clamor to deplatform Google completely from public schools. Until that revolt among parents and educators across party lines swells, it's up to moms and dads to seize control (thanks to parent watchdog Cheri Kiesecker -- http://missourieducationwatchdog.com/why-is-google-gsuitetracking-students-location-voice-activity-web-app-activity-device-info-youtubes-searched-and-watched -- for these tips):

1. Refuse to surrender your child's privacy as the price of admission to school. Google logins must not be a requirement to participate in the classroom.

2. Demand disclosure of edutech terms of service for all apps, software and hardware.

3. If your child has already been dragooned into G Suite, dive into its "Activity Controls" and the "Manage Activity" section. Investigate the settings for password auto-save and auto sign-in, tracking of YouTube search and watch histories, live chat transcripts, sync and "Remove the Device" functions. Hold your school district's administrators accountable for putting your kids' privacy first.

4. Wean yourselves -- not just your kids -- off Google. Try the Brave browser, DuckDuckGo search engine, BitChute video hosting service, Minds or MeWe social networking and ProtonMail.

Control begins with you, not G.

[FreedomPoster]

>>Wean yourselves — not just your kids — off Google. Try the Brave browser, DuckDuckGo search engine, BitChute video hosting service, Minds or MeWe social networking and ProtonMail.

Worth saying again.

The James Damore fiasco a year ago made me go and touch every browser on every device in the house and make sure Google wasn’t the default search engine. I use DuckDuckGo.

Currently using Brave to read and respond on Free Republic.

Never used Gmail.

I still use YouTube more than I should, but that’s more of a function of all who use it, whose content I want to see.

[Slyfox]

First you put your kids in a school where they don't rely on Google for their education, or you homeschool.

Second, you don't let your kids have a laptop, tablet or a phone that allows them free access to the Internet in their bedrooms, by themselves.

Third, you make sure that the only access they have to the Internet is on the one huge desk computer you have in the den or kitchen where mom can see what the kids are doing on it.

Fourth, you put kid controls on the desk computer.

Fifth, you don't let your kids have a phone until they are 16 and can pay the bill themselves. If they need a phone before that give them a flip phone with no email and no Internet.

[Skooz]

bfl

[Opinionated Blowhard]

I know I’m in a minority, but I really don’t care if Google or some other browser or search engine collects data on what I buy for marketing purposes. I view it as a good feature, not a problem. You just have to understand what is happening when you use the internet to make purchases. And quite frankly, its not as sophisticated as some critics make it out to be. Usually, I get a million ads for something AFTER I’ve bought it, not before. Collecting private email data and targeting kids is another story. That should be stopped.

[reformedliberal]

This is likely just screaming into the void.

At 76, I thought I’d kept myself off the digital leash by not having a cell phone, no social media and not using goog. I have no webcam. No smart TV. Computer mic is always supposedly turned off. Etc, etc.

But DH has a cell & a gmail account.
And goog is unfortunately still superior for some searches.

Last week, we changed ISP. I notified every account, friend and site. Google was not one of them.

But, I am taking an online course with an SEO component which requires _a lot_ of Google use because Google algorithmic rankings are the benchmark of SEO. I’ve learned that not even the engineers at Google know exactly how that algorithm functions, since the thing is constantly evolving.I also learned it is very smart and perhaps even intuitive. (Hi, Dr. Turing!)

Another requirement was use of Google Docs. So, I had to download that program. Google already knew my new email, which was auto-filled as I began the registration. Oddly enough, even though I was prompted for a cell number (supposedly for a 2-party authentication) that I did not have and even though I dithered and then did not enter my landline or even my husband’s cell number (both accepted, if I read the terms correctly)Docs downloaded smoothly and I have been using it with no glitches. It’s great, BTW.

Yesterday, I was browsing tutorials (very clear and easy to follow)on inserting images, et al, into posts. I scrolled down to read the comments and....ALL of them were from students! Many, perhaps a majority, were from young students praising the tutorial as “better than my teacher!” One added the caveat that “old people, like mother, may have a problem
following.” (No, precious, I did not and I am likely older than *mother*).

I think this ship has sailed. Google (et al) must be wrapped up in legal restrictions because it it is already de facto in charge of....everything. It may be time to stop worrying and learn to love the algo. Or at least realize that, in many respects, AI is here and it is in charge of all online activity. With geolocation and use of codes and passwords and biometrics for access IRL, it may actually be in charge everywhere.

Is it the apocalypse, yet?

[posterchild]

Why would you need to notify anyone that you changed your ISP?

[Cletus.D.Yokel]

I would think that THIS excerpt should change your mind concerning your children:

Canvas (by Instructure) is one of myriad “learning management systems” that stores students’ grades, homework assignments, videos, quizzes and tests — all integrated with almighty, all-powerful, omniscient Google. Google apps such as ClassDojo collect intimate behavioral data and long-term psychological profiles encompassing family information, personal messages, photographs and voice notes. The collection of such data is a nanny state nightmare in the making, as a new Pioneer Institute report on “social, emotional learning” software and assessments outlined this week.

[usconservative]

Fifth, you don't let your kids have a phone until they are 16 and can pay the bill themselves. If they need a phone before that give them a flip phone with no email and no Internet.

And NO CAMERA.

I did that and I was the most hated dad on the planet. Didn't care: I'm their FATHER not their "friend."

[old curmudgeon]

OK, so you follow all the instructions and your kids are safe.

Really?

If the places your kids, or you, visit are using google, don't you suspect that your contacts and reasons for the contacts re being logged with the google monster?

The only solution is to break up google as a monopoly and legislate very severe penalties for spying, tracking and using personal private information gained from internet use to secretly psychoanalyze and classify users.

We must stop this now or we will become another China.

[SGCOS]

..and don’t forget that Alexa listens to your conversations and that your phone still reports your locations and travel even after “Location’ is turned off..

[budj]

[taxcontrol]

The number one thing that you can do to protect kids is to make sure that they have no privacy in the home.

PCs that access the internet should be in public areas of the house. Your DNS service should use a service similar to the OpenDNS family shield program. Phone internet access should be blocked during sleeping hours. Phones should have a password but only if the parent knows the password. If they cry and whine about privacy, let them know that fine, I will stop paying for your phone line and you can have all the privacy in the world.

When my kids were teens (now college age), I would grab their phone and text “banana” or “hamburger” to the last text/chat message. Normally, this would prompt a “What???” type of response. To which my kids would have to tell their friends that dad was picking up the phone and texting. A not so subtle message that dad was reading their messages.

[Slyfox]

I forgot the camera.

I watched an interview with some tech expert (can't remember which one) and he had a post-it note over his camera hole.

[minnesota_bound]

Google is bribing schools just like the rich are to get their kids in. Google then sells your kids permanent record to everyone. Several years ago in Los Angeles the school officials were taking bribes from Apple to have iPads bought. You know for the children.
The iPads also had software that tracked everything. School officials were turning on the camera to spy on the kids when they were in their home. The iPads were easily broken by the kids.

[usconservative]

I watched an interview with some tech expert (can't remember which one) and he had a post-it note over his camera hole.

I've been in Information Technology for 35 years. Systems Security, InfoSec and CyberSecurity are among my proficient specialties.

My laptop has a camera lens cover ($5) and none of my home PC's have webcam's attached to them. I'm well aware it's not difficult to hack into someone's system, especially Windows and enable the cam without the person using the computer knowing it.

That's why I cover the one I have on my laptop and don't have a webcam left connected on any of my systems. I plug in when I want to use it, un-plug it when I'm done.

If you want to know how to hack into someone's computer to enable their connected webcam, a google search will turn up resources to hacking kits and instructions on how to do it.