• by Wendy Davis , Staff Writer @wendyndavis, December 1, 2015

Google collects detailed information about students' Web-browsing activity, search queries, videos watched on YouTube, even the browser extensions they download, the digital rights group Electronic Frontier Foundation says in a new Federal Trade Commission complaint.

The complaint centers on Google's "Apps for Education," and its Chromebook, which syncs data to the cloud by default. The apps, as well as the device, are used in many schools, according to the EFF.

The organization alleges that Google gathers data from Chromebooks, and also amasses data from students who are logged in to their Google for Education accounts, even when students surf the Web for non-academic purposes. The result, according to the EFF, is that Google "invariably collects, maintains, and uses for its own benefit" a host of private information from students.

The EFF alleges that Google's collection and retention of this data violates the terms of a much-heralded "student privacy pledge," which was developed by the think tank Future of Privacy Forum and has been signed by more than 200 companies, including Google. That pledge prohibits "school service providers" from collecting any data from students except for authorized educational purposes, or as permitted by parents and students; the pledge also requires companies to destroy students' personal data after it's no longer needed for authorized purposes.

Whether the EFF's allegations amount to a violation of the privacy pledge is debatable.

Jules Polonetsky, executive director of the Future of Privacy Forum, says the student privacy pledge only applies in the educational context, but not when companies are providing general services. In other words, the restrictions in the pledge don't apply when students watch YouTube at home for non-school purposes, according to Polonetsky.

The fine print of the pledge defines school service provider as companies that operate services designed for elementary and secondary schools. But the definition also specifically excludes companies acting as providers of non-educational software and apps.

The EFF is asking the FTC to investigate whether Google violated its privacy promises, and order the company to destroy all "personal student information" that is tied to Google for Education student accounts and isn't necessary for educational purposes.

For its part, Google says through a spokesperson that it is "confident" that its educational tools "comply with both the law and our promises."