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If your student has a google account created by the school using Google for Education, then their data is not being used for ads. And if their admins delete you

If your student has a google account created by the school using Google for Education, then their data is not being used for ads. And if their admins delete your student account after they graduate (as they should) then their data is truly gone (after a relatively short retention period). Now if you have a student using a non Google for Education account, then Google will store and use their data for ad targeting after they turn 18. Also if they lie about their age when they create their account (which is very likely, especially because Google doesn't allow you to create an account with age less than 13) then this will kick in sooner. In addition even though ad personalization is off for under 18 and advertisers are not supposed to target them by other means, they can and do by targetting search terms, youtube categories etc that under 18s are frequently interested in. (FWIW Google never really "sells" your data. That would loose their monopoly on their most valued asset. It's more like they rent it out, but allowing advertisers to target you. The advertisers never actually get to see "person X has attribute ABC", more like the advertiser says "target people with ABC" and they trust google to show it people like that.)

hnpolicestate 2y ago
"If your student has a google account created by the school using Google for Education, then their data is not being used for ads" - then how do they make money? Is Google classroom free for schools?
- lolinder 2y ago
  Yes, but there are enterprise-y tiers that are paid.
- Loughla 2y ago
  Yes it's free. And yes it's not making money. They do have phenomenal education resources for teachers that are paid, though. It's about getting them baked into the google ecosystem. Microsoft did this in the 90's, but with businesses instead of schools (and not for free to be honest). Get them used to Google so they use nothing but Google when they're adults. Then monetization happens.
  - alephnerd 2y ago
    And Apple in the 2000s! The iMac G3 and eMac was everywhere in classrooms.
    - nytesky 2y ago
      You should check out the Apple II…
ars 2y ago
> because Google doesn't allow you to create an account with age less than 13 Actually you can - you create the account under FamilyLink. See here: https://support.google.com/families/answer/7103338 https://support.google.com/families/answer/7103338
- advisedwang 2y ago
  TIL
tehwebguy 2y ago
> The advertisers never actually get to see "person X has attribute ABC", more like the advertiser says "target people with ABC" and they trust google to show it people like that.) Only if you never click. Once you click they know.
bugtodiffer 2y ago
> then their data is not being used for ads maybe, just maybe this is half true as in: they do not use this data _directly_
- gruez 2y ago
  What are you implying? In other words what non "direct" ways is google using such account data for advertising?
  - bugtodiffer 2y ago
    I bet they somehow analyze it to learn something. And then they use that knowledge to make money.
- advisedwang 2y ago
  Google for Education accounts don't see any ads at all, so there is no indirect usage for ads either.
  - bugtodiffer 2y ago
    They surely do not use this usage data, no way :)
moi2388 2y ago
I very much doubt this. Often deletes are just soft deletes, and they have to provide all data they capture to intelligence agencies. They might not use it for advertisement directly, but I am 100% convinced they’ll build up your profile and use the profile for advertisement instead.
- gruez 2y ago
  >Often deletes are just soft deletes It probably is, with purges (including backups) happening a few months later. Otherwise they're setting themselves up for fraud lawsuits (see also: the recent incognito browsing lawsuit which arguably has less merit than a straightforward "we told you we'd delete it but didn't"). > and they have to provide all data they capture to intelligence agencies. 1. Source? 2. If your threat model is intelligence agencies operating extrajudicially, you probably shouldn't be trusting googles delete functionality at all. At the very least they can pull up a copy that they captured before you deleted it from google?
  - moi2388 2y ago
    1. Prism and the snowden leaks, and EU regulation which prevents the transfer of EU citizens data to the US specifically because all of it is being harvested under PRISM and FISA. 2. Very true, which is exactly why all EU data had to remain in the EU and could not be transferred to the US, until recently, with the express statement that US intelligence would still have access.
    - gruez 2y ago
      AFAIK the Snowden/PRISM leaks only revealed that tech companies were part of the program, but not whether they were compelled or voluntarily gave the information up.
      - moi2388 2y ago
        I didn’t state if they gave it up willingly or compelled. There are also reports of the US buying lots of data from data brokers, as well as hackers. I mean, I would too, if I were an intelligence agency. It just means I’m more careful about which data I put where
Am4TIfIsER0ppos 2y ago
> their data is not being used for ads Bullshit. Even if that were true they still collect the surveillance data to funnel it to another arm of the government.
JohnFen 2y ago
> Google never really "sells" your data. That would loose their monopoly on their most valued asset. It's more like they rent it out, but allowing advertisers to target you. I think most people understand this, it's just that it doesn't make the situation much better.

hnpolicestate 2y ago

"If your student has a google account created by the school using Google for Education, then their data is not being used for ads" - then how do they make money? Is Google classroom free for schools?

lolinder 2y ago
Yes, but there are enterprise-y tiers that are paid.
Loughla 2y ago
Yes it's free. And yes it's not making money. They do have phenomenal education resources for teachers that are paid, though. It's about getting them baked into the google ecosystem. Microsoft did this in the 90's, but with businesses instead of schools (and not for free to be honest). Get them used to Google so they use nothing but Google when they're adults. Then monetization happens.
- alephnerd 2y ago
  And Apple in the 2000s! The iMac G3 and eMac was everywhere in classrooms.
  - nytesky 2y ago
    You should check out the Apple II…

ars 2y ago

> because Google doesn't allow you to create an account with age less than 13 Actually you can - you create the account under FamilyLink. See here: https://support.google.com/families/answer/7103338 https://support.google.com/families/answer/7103338

advisedwang 2y ago
TIL

tehwebguy 2y ago

> The advertisers never actually get to see "person X has attribute ABC", more like the advertiser says "target people with ABC" and they trust google to show it people like that.) Only if you never click. Once you click they know.

bugtodiffer 2y ago

> then their data is not being used for ads maybe, just maybe this is half true as in: they do not use this data _directly_

gruez 2y ago
What are you implying? In other words what non "direct" ways is google using such account data for advertising?
- bugtodiffer 2y ago
  I bet they somehow analyze it to learn something. And then they use that knowledge to make money.
advisedwang 2y ago
Google for Education accounts don't see any ads at all, so there is no indirect usage for ads either.
- bugtodiffer 2y ago
  They surely do not use this usage data, no way :)

moi2388 2y ago

I very much doubt this. Often deletes are just soft deletes, and they have to provide all data they capture to intelligence agencies. They might not use it for advertisement directly, but I am 100% convinced they’ll build up your profile and use the profile for advertisement instead.

gruez 2y ago
>Often deletes are just soft deletes It probably is, with purges (including backups) happening a few months later. Otherwise they're setting themselves up for fraud lawsuits (see also: the recent incognito browsing lawsuit which arguably has less merit than a straightforward "we told you we'd delete it but didn't"). > and they have to provide all data they capture to intelligence agencies. 1. Source? 2. If your threat model is intelligence agencies operating extrajudicially, you probably shouldn't be trusting googles delete functionality at all. At the very least they can pull up a copy that they captured before you deleted it from google?
- moi2388 2y ago
  1. Prism and the snowden leaks, and EU regulation which prevents the transfer of EU citizens data to the US specifically because all of it is being harvested under PRISM and FISA. 2. Very true, which is exactly why all EU data had to remain in the EU and could not be transferred to the US, until recently, with the express statement that US intelligence would still have access.
  - gruez 2y ago
    AFAIK the Snowden/PRISM leaks only revealed that tech companies were part of the program, but not whether they were compelled or voluntarily gave the information up.
    - moi2388 2y ago
      I didn’t state if they gave it up willingly or compelled. There are also reports of the US buying lots of data from data brokers, as well as hackers. I mean, I would too, if I were an intelligence agency. It just means I’m more careful about which data I put where

Am4TIfIsER0ppos 2y ago

> their data is not being used for ads Bullshit. Even if that were true they still collect the surveillance data to funnel it to another arm of the government.

JohnFen 2y ago

> Google never really "sells" your data. That would loose their monopoly on their most valued asset. It's more like they rent it out, but allowing advertisers to target you. I think most people understand this, it's just that it doesn't make the situation much better.