Information We Collect: Surveillance and Privacy in the Implementation of Google Apps for Education

The aim of this study is to show how Google’s business model is concealed within Google Apps for Education (GAFE) as well as how such a bundle is perceived within one educational organisation, consisting of approximately 30 schools. The study consists of two parts: 1) a rhetorical analysis of Google...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inEuropean educational research journal EERJ Vol. 15; no. 6; pp. 644 - 663
Main Authors Lindh, Maria, Nolin, Jan
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published London, England SAGE Publications 01.11.2016
Subjects
Administrator Attitudes
algorithmic identities
Biblioteks- och informationsvetenskap
Bussiness and IT
Cloud computing
Computer Software
Courseware
Data Collection
Foreign Countries
Google Apps for Education (GAFE)
Handel och IT
Information Policy
Information Sources
Interviews
Legal Problems
Legal Responsibility
Library and Information Science
Lärarutbildning och pedagogisk yrkesverksamhet
Online Vendors
Policy Analysis
Privacy
Program Implementation
surveillance economy
Sweden
Teacher Education and Education Work
Sweden
Cloud computing
privacy
surveillance economy
Google Apps for Education (GAFE)
algorithmic identities
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Summary:The aim of this study is to show how Google’s business model is concealed within Google Apps for Education (GAFE) as well as how such a bundle is perceived within one educational organisation, consisting of approximately 30 schools. The study consists of two parts: 1) a rhetorical analysis of Google policy documents and 2) an interview study in a Swedish educational organisation. By making an implicit demarcation between the two concepts (your) ‘data’ and (collected) ‘information’ Google can disguise the presence of a business model for online marketing and, at the same time, simulate the practices and ethics of a free public service institution. This makes it problematic for Swedish schools to implement Google Apps for Education, bearing in mind Google’s surveillance practices for making profits on pupil’s algorithmic identities. From a front end viewpoint of Google Apps for Education, the advantages of the services are evident to the users, and emerge in the study, whereas back end strategies are relatively hidden.
ISSN:1474-9041
1474-9041
DOI:10.1177/1474904116654917