Google must offer another ChromeOS version for education in the Netherlands after agreement – IT Pro – News

Next school year, Google should offer another version of ChromeOS to Dutch schools running on Chromebooks. This is because the company then becomes a data processor and not a data controller, which is an important difference under the GDPR.

Google will implement eight actions to make equipment and software suitable for education. These measures are determined by privacy company, which has negotiated with Google with the university education organizations SURF and Sivon about the use of Workspace for Education. earlier It was already known The educational institutions have reached an agreement with Google, but the details are not yet known.

One of the most significant changes is that Google is changing its state from data controller to data handler. Under the GDPR privacy law, these are the concepts that deal with what data a company is allowed to collect and why. Google has always considered itself a data controller. This would allow the company to assign itself rights to collect data from users. Under the old terms, Google collected metadata from Chrome and ChromeOS for commercial purposes33, including for the purposes of displaying ads.

Now that SURF and Sivon have reached an agreement, Google is just a data processor. This means that the data may only be processed in accordance with the terms arising from that agreement. Therefore, Google is only allowed to collect data for three purposes: to provide services for security reasons and to send updates. This will be monitored by future audits.

Google will still be responsible for the data for the services it calls “additional.” These are YouTube, Scholar, Images, and Maps. This also includes the search function. When kids use the search engine on their Chromebook, they are signed out of their Workspace for Education account so that data can’t be linked to them. As a result, Google cannot use the data for personalized ads.

Other commitments made by Google are for the company to become more transparent about data collection. The company should “publish significantly more documents.” Google will also develop a tool that will allow system administrators to see what data Google collects. In addition, the data is kept for a shorter period of time.

The deal comes after lengthy negotiations between the government and Google. It started months ago, when it became clear that Google’s products posed many privacy risks for both national government and education. The government wants to switch to Google software like G Suite, but according to Data Protection Impact Assessment By the privacy company, Google therefore collects a lot of information and the software is not compliant with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

dpia was run at the same time for education, as Workspace for Education is widely used. Also this program Do not meet the requirements. as a result of, Dutch data protection authority to ban schools To use this program. To prevent education from getting into trouble before the start of the new school year, the agreement has already been concluded and the decisions made public. Later this year, it will follow the recommendations of the G Suit Enterprise Use Agreement in the rest of the national government.