On Nov. 27, Attorney General Hector Balderas of New Mexico filed a notice of appeal for a children’s privacy case against Google.[1]
Google initially beat the claims by New Mexico’s attorney general that the company violated children’s privacy by collecting data on users of its educational tools. Balderas alleged that Google violated the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act because it doesn’t get parents’ permission to share or collect personal data. The initial complaint was dismissed because it did not sufficiently allege that Google violated the act. Google argued in its motion to dismiss that it was not breaking the law by looking to schools to either provide or obtain parental consent for students’ use of Google Classroom, Gmail, Google Drive, and other free tools that have seen an increase in use as a result of online learning due to the COVID-19 pandemic.