A Privacy Watchdog’s Family Faces the Reality (Image Credits: Ca-times.brightspotcdn.com)
California – Parents turned to digital tools to streamline their children’s school assignments, sports teams and daily logistics, yet these conveniences often exposed personal details to tech firms with limited oversight.
A Privacy Watchdog’s Family Faces the Reality
Jen King, a fellow at Stanford’s AI institute focused on data practices, encountered the issue firsthand last fall. Her 12-year-old son’s cross-country coaches used TeamSnap to handle the team roster, prompting her to provide her name, date of birth, gender, email and phone number.[1][2]
Upon logging in, she discovered her son’s name, email and birth date already populated, alongside photos and details from teammates. King expressed frustration, noting that demands for her birth date seemed unnecessary for parental updates.[1]
Her 17-year-old son’s robotics team relied on the same platform. Recently, a pop-up sought permission to track her activity across sites, highlighting persistent consent requests. Even as an expert studying “dark patterns” that hinder opt-outs, King reluctantly shared details to stay informed on her children’s activities.
Everyday Tools Digitize Student Lives
Technology infiltrated classrooms with proctoring software, flashcard generators and assignment platforms. Beyond school hours, apps managed sports coordination, bus routing and health records.[1]
Sports management apps like TeamSnap gained traction among coaches and districts. Public records revealed purchases by Piedmont Unified, Tamalpais Union High and Santa Monica-Malibu Unified school districts. Santa Monica-Malibu confirmed an annual subscription limited to staff and parents, with agreements to protect data access, though details on sales restrictions remained unclear.[2]
Berkeley Unified, where King’s children attended, offered no response on its TeamSnap arrangements. Free versions often bypassed district approvals, complicating oversight.
- Names, emails and birth dates of students and parents
- Phone numbers and gender information
- Team photos and geolocation data
- Purchase history and contact details for marketing
Loopholes Undermine State Protections
California pioneered student privacy in 2014 with a law barring edtech firms from selling data or targeting ads to pupils. The 2018 measure granted opt-out and deletion rights to users statewide.
Yet gaps persisted. The 2014 statute covered only products primarily serving K-12 schools and marketed to students. Extracurricular apps evaded scrutiny by claiming broader audiences or non-mandatory use, according to Amelia Vance of the Public Interest Privacy Center.[1]
Federal COPPA mandated parental consent for data from children under 13, but teens’ information faced adult-like treatment outside schools. TeamSnap affirmed no knowing collection from under-13s without consent but noted coaches might supply it. Its policy denied monetary sales recently, though cookies counted as CCPA “sales,” sharing names, contacts and locations with advertisers.[2]
Minors and parents often lacked real opt-out power when required by coaches or teachers. King observed most teens grasped little of these prompts.
New Legislation Targets Emerging Threats
Assembly Bill 1159, carried by Democrat Dawn Addis, sought to expand 2014 protections, curb AI training on student data and extend safeguards to college students. Proponents eyed it amid federal data grabs on immigration and benefits.[1]
The measure drew labor support but opposition from the Chamber of Commerce and TechNet, who warned of stifled AI education tools. It introduced private lawsuits for violations, a tool King deemed essential for enforcement.
Recent precedents included a $5.1 million settlement with Illuminate after a breach exposed data from 434,000 California students. The California State University system’s $17 million OpenAI pact barred model training on student inputs.
| District | TeamSnap Use |
|---|---|
| Piedmont Unified | Purchased version |
| Tamalpais Union High | Purchased version |
| Santa Monica-Malibu Unified | Annual subscription for staff/parents |
Key Takeaways
- Apps collect extensive personal data, often slipping through school-specific laws.
- Parental consent hurdles ease after age 13, enabling ad targeting.
- AB 1159 aims to plug gaps but faces business pushback.
Parents navigated a landscape where utility clashed with vulnerability, prompting calls for tighter rules. King likened trapped accounts to a “roach motel”: easy entry, arduous exit. As tech advanced, vigilance remained key. What steps have you taken to safeguard your family’s data? Share in the comments.
