SafeGov.org has released the results of a survey conducted by Brunswick Insight in May 2013 on Australian parents’ views of cloud services and online privacy in schools.

Schoolchildren are at risk of having their online activity tracked and monitored for targeted advertising by internet firms through free cloud based education services.

New research for the Ponemon Institute for SafeGov.org highlights some critical issues in the increasing use of cloud-based services to store and process the confidential personal information of people using public services.

In 2012, the media erupted with news about employers demanding employees provide them with their social media passwords so the employers could access their accounts. This news took many people by surprise, and it set off a firestorm of public outrage. It even sparked a significant legislative response in the states.

The recently revived debate over the UK's draft communications data bill and its so-called snoopers' charter raises justifiable concerns about government attempts to monitor citizens' internet browsing behaviour and email correspondence with the cooperation of private companies.

Technology companies are moving rapidly to get tools like email and document creation services into schools. This link to a recent survey of schools in the UK shows that use of such technology is expected to bring significant educational and social benefits. However, it also reveals that schools have deep concerns that providers of these services will mine student emails, documents or web browsing behaviour to build profiles for commercial purposes, such as serving advertisements.

Connecting personal data to create and use profiles has become an important challenge for individuals’ rights and freedoms. Profiling enables companies as well as public authorities to determine, analyze or predict peoples’ personality or aspects of their personality – especially their behaviour, interests and habits. Furthermore, people usually do not know that and to what extent they are being profiled.

A new survey of UK schools shows cloud computing adoption on the rise, but strong objections to mining data of schoolchildren, warns Jeff Gould

SafeGov.org and Ponemon Institute study shows UK schools moving rapidly to adopt Cloud Computing, but overwhelmingly reject business models that allow cloud providers to mine student data for profit.

Cloud computing allows dramatic flexibility in information processing—and on a global basis. Its technology permits data transmissions that span the globe. Computing activities now shift from country-to-country depending on load capacity, time of day, and a variety of other factors. These decisions are sometimes made in real time and by machines rather than humans.