Google Workspace in education

Stand van zaken DPIA Google Workspace: update privacymaatregelen
20 April 2023 - In December 2022, SIVON and SURF reported that Google has delivered measures to mitigate the risks from the 2021 DPIA within the agreed timeframe. Most of the measures comply with our earlier agreements; Google is now picking up the remaining issues and has indicated it will have them resolved by mid-June.
Update agreements SURF and Google
5 October 2022 - In July 2021, SURF and Google reached an important agreement on the use of Google Workspace for Education by educational institutions. Since then, we have been in close contact with Google to ensure that they honour our agreements and discuss related files such as Google ChromeOS and the Chrome browser. In this article, we inform you of the current state of affairs as an advocate.

Research on Google ChromeOS and Chrome browser
11 November 2021 - In July 2021, it was agreed with Google that an education-specific version will be made available for ChromeOS and Chrome browser. Institutions will thus remain in control of data when using ChromeOS and Chrome browser on student and staff Chromebooks (managed by the institution).

Google Workspace for Education support package
2 August 2021 - As we previously reported, an agreement was reached with Google on July 8 on the measures aimed at the previously identified privacy risks at Google Workspace for Education. This means that institutions can continue to use Google Workspace for Education (Plus), provided that they also take a number of actions themselves. SURF, SIVON, and Kennisnet have created a support package for this that you can now find here.

All about DPIA Google Workspace
9 July 2021 - On July 8, an agreement was reached with Google on measures aimed at the previously identified privacy risks with Google Workspace for Education. This means that schools can continue to use Google Workspace for Education, provided they take some actions themselves.

Agreement with Google on privacy risks
8 July 2021 - After intense discussions over the last weeks, agreement has been reached with Google regarding the mitigation of high data protection risks relating to the use of Workspace for Education Plus (previously G Suite Education for Enterprise) and Workspace for Education Fundamentals (the free of charge offering, previously G Suite for Education) by educational institutions in the Netherlands that were identified during a data protection impact assessment (DPIA) carried out in 2020 – 2021.

AP advice: Google Workspace in education poses too many risks
8 July 2021 - The Dutch Personal Data Authority (Autoriteit Persoonsgegevens, AP) has stated that it is unclear whether personal data in Google Workspace (formerly Google Suite for Education) is sufficiently protected. Educational organisations are urging Google to take its social responsibility seriously in order to ensure the privacy of pupils and students and to remove the risks without delay.

SURF and SIVON discuss privacy risks with Google
22 February 2021 - In the education sector, personal and other privacy-sensitive data are digitally stored and exchanged at an increasing rate. It is important this is done in a safe and responsible manner. An investigation commissioned by the University of Groningen (RUG) and the Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences (HvA) has shown there are privacy risks associated with the so-called metadata Google collects.
Lonneke Walk
