The online learning products that were widely endorsed by countries across the world had done much harm to the children, as they never protected their privacy, according to a new report by the Human Rights Watch.
The report “How Dare they peep Into My Private Life”, shows that Governments of 49 of the world’s most populous countries harmed children’s rights by endorsing online learning products during school closures without adequately protecting children’s privacy.
The Human Rights watch said that the report was based on technical and policy analysis on 164 education technology (EdTech) products endorsed by 49 countries. This included analysis of 290 companies found to have collected, processed, or received children’s data since March 2021.
Children’s rights and technology researcher and advocate at Human Rights Watch Hye Juang Han said “by failing to ensure that their recommended online learning products protected children and their data, governments flung open the door for companies to surveil children online, outside school hours, and deep into their private lives.”
INFRINGED ON CHILDREN’S RIGHTS
The study showed that 146 (89 percent) of the 164 EdTech products appeared to engage in data practices that risked or infringed on children’s rights. These products monitored or had the capacity to monitor children, in most cases secretly and without the consent of children or their parents, in many cases harvesting personal data such as who they are, where they are, what they do in the classroom, who their family and friends are, and what kind of device their families could afford for them to use, the report said.
The Human Rights Watch said that most online learning platforms installed tracking technologies that trailed children outside of their virtual classrooms and across the internet, over time. “Some invisibly tagged and fingerprinted children in ways that were impossible to avoid or erase – even if children, their parents, and teachers had been aware and had the desire to do so – without destroying the device,” the report stated.
ADVERTISEMENT COMPANIES
It also said that most of the online learning platforms sent or granted access to children’s data to advertising technology (AdTech) companies. In doing so, some EdTech products targeted children with behavioral advertising. By using children’s data – extracted from educational settings – to target them with personalized content and advertisements that follow them across the internet, these companies not only distorted children’s online experiences, but also risked influencing their opinions and beliefs at a time in their lives when they are at high risk of manipulative interference.
Noting that most EdTech products were offered to governments at no direct financial cost, the report said that the governments offloaded the true costs of providing online education onto children by endorsing and enabling the wide adoption of EdTech products. These children were unknowingly forced to pay for their learning with their rights to privacy and access to information, and potentially their freedom of thought, teh Human Rights Watch said.
However, it said that only a few governments checked whether the EdTech they rapidly endorsed or procured for schools were safe for children to use. As a result, children whose families could afford to access the internet, or who made hard sacrifices to do so, were exposed to the privacy practices of the EdTech products they were told or required to use during Covid-19 school closures.
KEPT IN THE DARK
In the report, the Human Rights Watch said that children, parents and teachers were kept in the dark about these data surveillance practices. The agency said that data surveillance took place in virtual classrooms and educational settings where children could not reasonably object to such surveillance. “Most EdTech companies did not allow students to decline to be tracked; most of this monitoring happened secretly, without the child’s knowledge or consent. In most instances, it was impossible for children to opt out of such surveillance and data collection without opting out of compulsory education and giving up on formal learning during the pandemic,” it said.
In its recommendations, the Human Rights Watch asked the governments to facilitate urgent remedy for children whose data were collected during the pandemic and remain at risk of misuse and exploitation. It also asked the governments to conduct data privacy audits of the EdTech endorsed for children’s learning during the pandemic, remove those that fail these audits, and immediately notify and guide affected schools, teachers, parents, and children to prevent further collection and misuse of children’s data.
The Human Rights watch among other recommendations wanted to prevent further collection and processing of children’s data by technology companies for the purposes of profiling, behavioral advertising, and other uses unrelated to the purpose of providing education. It also asked teh governments to enact and enforce laws ensuring that companies respect children’s rights and are held accountable if they fail to do so.
