Google Workspace for Education Information
Information for Parents and Students:
Google Workspace for Education is a Google platform designed specifically with education in mind. While it is based on many of the popular Google functions available to consumers, it provides a controlled environment in which school systems can manage the collaborative environment for students.
Pittsylvania County Schools assigns each student, with parent consent, a Google Workspace for Education account. Students need to remember that Google Workspace is a school environment. Regardless of whether you are in a school building or not, if you are in Google Workspace, you are responsible for following all PCS guidelines set forth by the Pittsylvania County Schools Acceptable Use Policy. Student accounts may not be used in the following ways: unlawful activities; using obscene, profane, threatening, or disrespectful language; commercial purposes; personal financial gain, false identity in communications, misrepresentation of the Pittsylvania County School Division; interference with the school technology operations. Bullying will not be tolerated and the privacy of others must be respected at all times.
• Students should never share their Google Workspace for Education password.
• Students should immediately report any inappropriate use to a staff member at their school.
• Email access for Grades K-3 will be restricted to only sending and receiving emails from Pittsylvania County Schools accounts. In Grades 4-8, email access will be limited to sending and receiving emails from Pittsylvania County Schools accounts and limited email addresses for educational purposes only.
Access to and use of Google Workspace for Education is considered a privilege accorded at the discretion of Pittsylvania County Schools. The school division maintains the right to immediately withdraw the access and use of the account when there is reason to believe that violations of the law or School Board policies have occurred. In such cases, the alleged violation will be referred to the Principal or designee for further investigation and application of necessary consequences as indicated in the Student Code of Conduct and School Board Policy. No student will be given his/her login credentials without parent/guardian permission.
Additional Google Services:
At Pittsylvania County Schools, we use Google Workspace for Education, a set of education productivity tools from Google including Gmail, Calendar, Docs, etc. Students will use their Google Workspace for Education accounts to complete assignments, communicate with teachers, sign into their Chromebooks, and learn 21st-century digital citizenship skills.
Using their Google Workspace for Education accounts, Students may access and use Core Services offered by Google, which include Assignments, Calendar, Classroom, Drive and Docs, Gmail, Google Chrome Sync, Google Meet, Jameboard, Keep, Sites, and Tasks. In addition, we also allow students to access certain other Additional Google Services with the Google Workspace for Education accounts that are reviewed and deemed to be both age and grade-appropriate and serve an educational purpose. Further, we allow students to access additional third-party services with their Google Workspace for Education accounts that are reviewed and deemed to be both educational and age-appropriate.
Access to these third-party services with your student’s Google Workspace for Education account is enabled by the division, and authorizes the disclosure of data, as requested by the third-party services. Google provides information about the information it collects, as well as how it uses and discloses the information it collects from Google Workspace for Education accounts in its Google Workspace for Education Privacy Notice. You can read that notice online at https://workspace.google.com/terms/education_privacy.html.
What personal information does Google collect?
When creating a student account, Pittsylvania County Schools may provide Google with certain personal information about the student, including, for example, a name, email address, and password. Google may also collect personal information directly from students, such as telephone numbers for account recovery or a profile photo added to the Google Workspace for Education account. When a student uses Google Core services, Google also collects information based on the use of those services. This includes:
• account information, which includes things like name and email address.
activity while using the core services, which includes things like viewing and interacting with content, people with whom your student communicates or shares content, and other details about their usage of the services.
• settings, apps, browsers & devices. Google collects information about your student’s settings and the apps, browsers, and devices they use to access Google services. This information includes browser and device type, settings configuration, unique identifiers, operating system, mobile network information, and application version number. Google also collects information about the interaction of your student’s apps, browsers, and devices with Google services, including IP address, crash reports, system activity, and the date and time of a request.
• location information. Google collects information about your student’s location as determined by various technologies such as IP address and GPS.
• direct communications. Google keeps records of communications when your student provides feedback, asks questions, or seeks technical support.
The Additional Services we allow students to access with their Google Workspace for Education accounts may also collect the following information, as described in the Google Privacy Policy:
• activity while using additional services, which includes things like terms your student searches for, videos they watch, content and ads they view and interact with, voice and audio information when they use audio features, purchase activity, and activity on third-party sites and apps that use Google services.
• apps, browsers, and devices. Google collects the information about your student’s apps, browsers, and devices described above in the core services section.
• location information. Google collects info about your student’s location as determined by various technologies including GPS, IP address, sensor data from their device, and information about things near their device, such as Wi-Fi access points, cell towers, and Bluetooth-enabled devices. The types of location data we collect depend in part on your student’s device and account settings.
How does Google use this information?
In Google Workspace for Education Core Services, Google uses student personal information primarily to provide the core services that schools and students use, but it’s also used to maintain and improve the services; make recommendations to optimize the use of the services; provide and improve other services your student requests; provide support; protect Google’s users, customers, the public, and Google; and comply with legal obligations. See the Google Cloud Privacy Notice for more information.
In Google Additional Services, Google may use the information collected from all Additional Services to deliver, maintain, and improve our services; develop new services; provide personalized services; measure performance; communicate with schools or users; and protect Google, Google’s users, and the public. See the Google Privacy Policy for more details.
Does Google use student personal information for users in K-12 schools to target advertising?
No. There are no ads shown in Google Workspace for Education core services. Also, none of the personal information collected in the core services is used for advertising purposes.
Some additional services show ads; however, for users in primary and secondary (K12) schools, the ads will not be personalized ads, which means Google does not use information from your student’s account or past activity to target ads. However, Google may show ads based on general factors like the student’s search queries, the time of day, or the content of a page they’re reading.
Can my child share information with others using the Google Workspace for Education account?
We may allow students to access Google services such as Google Docs and Sites, which include features where users can share information with others. For example, if your student shares a photo with a friend who then makes a copy of it, or shares it again, then that photo may continue to appear in the friend’s Google Account, even if your student removes it from their Google Account.
Will Google disclose my child’s personal information?
Google will not share personal information with companies, organizations, and individuals outside of Google except in the following cases:
Our Google Workspace for Education administrators will have access to your student’s information. For example, they may be able to:
• View account information, activity, and statistics;
• Change your student’s account password;
• Suspend or terminate your student’s account access;
• Access your student’s account information to satisfy applicable law, regulation, legal process, or enforceable governmental request;
• Restrict your student’s ability to delete or edit their information or privacy settings.
With your consent: Google will share personal information outside of Google with parental consent.
For external processing: Google will share personal information with Google’s affiliates and other trusted third-party providers to process it for us as Google instructs them and in compliance with our Google Privacy Policy, the Google Cloud Privacy Notice, and any other appropriate confidentiality and security measures.
For legal reasons: Google will share personal information outside of Google if they have a good-faith belief that access, use, preservation, or disclosure of the information is reasonably necessary for legal reasons, including complying with enforceable governmental requests and protecting you and Google.
What choices do I have as a parent or guardian?
First, you can consent to the collection and use of your child’s information by Google. If you don’t provide your consent, we will not create a Google Workspace for Education account for your child, and Google will not collect or use your child’s information as described in this notice.
If you consent to your child’s use of Google Workspace for Education, you can access or request deletion of your child’s Google Workspace for Education account by contacting the Pittsylvania County Schools’ Information Technology Department. If you wish to stop any further collection or use of your child's information, you can request that we use the service controls available to access personal information, limit your child’s access to features or services, or delete personal information in the services or your child’s account entirely. You and your child can also visit https://myaccount.google.com while signed in to the Google Workspace for Education account to view and manage the personal information and settings of the account.
What if I have more questions or would like to read further?
If you have questions about our use of Google’s Google Workspace for Education accounts or the choices available to you, please contact [insert contact information for the school administrator]. If you want to learn more about how Google collects, uses, and discloses personal information to provide services to us, please review the Google Workspace for Education Privacy Center, the Google Workspace for Education Privacy Notice, the Google Privacy Policy, and the Google Cloud Privacy Notice.
The Core Google Workspace for Education services are provided under the Google Workspace for Education Agreement and the Cloud Data Processing Addendum.