I was lucky to grow up in a time when internet safety was a large spread knowledge. Since the time I was little it has been repeated to me that what is on the internet can be seen by anyone, and forever. I was even told not to put my picture as profile pictures or someone would “steal my identity”. I think there is a lot of concern with internet safety, which is of course necessary, but how cautious is too much?

The CBC article by Craig Desson raises some interesting points about privacy relating to the google education tools. Especially as it has become such a huge part of most classrooms. I remember in my own education using google slides for almost all my projects in elementary school, and having my own school email account. While reading the article, I thought that the concern of having students becoming used to something that was essentially a product was something I had never really thought about, but was very true. By having google products become so integral in students life, it makes sense that that is what they would choose to use after they leave the education system. If instead the schools had specific school tool, then there would not be any concern over supporting a “product” and less issues with privacy.

However, Google tools are easy to access, and already available. Creating a whole new system and tools would take time, and teachers can’t just tell students to wait to learn until something better comes along. A possible solution could be to have all the students create a Pseudonym for their accounts, and not input what grade they are in.

Privacy is a very important thing, especially in this new digital age when our information is now a product, and it is important to keep in mind what information about us we are allowing companies to have.