How G Suite for Education protects teacher and student privacy

For 13 years, G Suite for Education has provided accredited schools and universities around the world with collaboration and teaching tools that are easy to use and manage as well as protect student data. With many more schools now using G Suite for Education, some of the common questions about security and privacy have been raised and here are the answers. 

What’s included in G Suite for Education

G Suite for Education offers two categories of services: G Suite Core Services and Additional Services. G Suite Core Services include products like Gmail, Calendar, Docs, Forms, Slides, Meet and Classroom which helps educators easily distribute assignments, grades and send feedback and communicate with students in one place. Additional Services like Google Books, Google Earth and Google Search are designed for consumer users and can be used with G Suite for Education accounts if enabled by a school’s domain administrator after obtaining parental consent where appropriate.

Teacher and student data are secured 

Schools own their G Suite for Education data and it’s Google’s responsibility to keep it safe and secure. Google’s systems and data centres are among the industry’s most secure and G Suite for Education data gets the same multi-layer safeguards that Google uses for its own operations. Google engineers work around the clock to ensure the security of its products and quickly respond to any threats that may emerge. Google also provides all G Suite for Education administrators with extensive security capabilities to protect sensitive information including Data Loss Prevention. For customers interested in enhanced security capabilities, please check out G Suite Enterprise for Education.

G Suite for Education provides school-managed Google accounts specifically for students, faculty and staff. School administrators can delete their entire domain, delete specific accounts at any time or export their data at any time. If a school decides to stop using G Suite for Education, all their user accounts and G Suite customer data will be deleted. When users graduate or move to a different school, Google provides a Takeout tool students can use to take their data with them. 

If you’re a parent or guardian of a student in primary or secondary school (K-12), you can access your child’s personal information or request that it be deleted through the school administrator. If a parent wishes to stop any further collection or use of the child’s information, the parent can request that the school administrator limit the child’s access to features or services or delete the child’s account entirely. Schools looking for more information about this, can check out how to communicate with parents and guardians about G Suite for Education.

No ads in G Suite for Education Core Services

There are no ads in G Suite for Education’s Core Services. For G Suite for Education users in primary and secondary (K-12) schools, Google does not use any user personal information or any information associated with the G Suite for Education account to target ads.

Additional Services like YouTube, Maps, and Blogger that are designed for consumers can also be used with G Suite for Education accounts for primary and secondary schools (K-12), if the school’s domain administrator enables access to the services. In that circumstance, these services may show contextual ads but personal information or any information associated with the account is not used to target advertising.

Compliance with industry regulations and best practices

G Suite for Education supports compliance with privacy laws around the world like the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA). Google also signed the Student Privacy Pledge in connection with G Suite for Education Core Services so that educators and parents would know that Google follows industry-leading practices. 
To learn more, you can check out the G Suite for Education Privacy Notice.