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It seems that there was an expectation that all parents would consent, as many required classroom activities have been developed by my son’s teachers on this platform, and no accommodation plans were in place, at least in my son’s school. All of this is problematic.

I believe that the use of the Google App might be a violation of the B.C. School Act, principally Section 79.1.b that requires school boards to “ensure the confidentiality of the information contained in the student records and ensure privacy for students and their families.”

I’m not a lawyer, but it seems to me that my son’s school work is part of his student record. And the school board simply can’t guarantee the confidentiality of information stored on servers in the U.S., and I don’t think parental consent relieves them of that obligation.

More broadly, the School Act guarantees children free access to the province’s public schools. The act explicitly states that boards must provide students free of charge “instruction in an education program sufficient to meet the general requirements for graduation.”

I would argue by the same token that schools can’t expect parents to sign away the privacy rights of their kids in the pursuit of a public education in B.C. That is an unreasonable request and constitutes in my view a barrier to education.

I have asked the minister of education and the Attorney General of B.C. to determine if the use of the Google Education App in the province’s public schools is consistent with the terms of the School Act.