More transparency and control needed of governments and Big Tech over data use, experts warn
Greater transparency and control are needed of governments and Big Tech companies over the use of people’s data, leading EdTech experts warned.
Concern has arisen following the greater reliance on, and use of, technology during the Covid-19 pandemic when schools globally were closed to a majority of students and lessons were delivered remotely.
The warnings were delivered by Professor Rose Luckin, director of EDUCATE Ventures Research and Caroline Wright, the director general of the British Educational Suppliers’ Association (Besa) at separate events.
Prof Luckin, speaking at CogX last week, expressed concern at the influence of Big Tech in schools and the proliferation of products and devices available by companies such as Google, Microsoft and Apple.
She told a discussion hosted by Nesta: “This is something we should be super-worried about. Google has paid millions in fines, but it hasn’t made any difference. They are investing billions in EdTech but children’s data is not safe. They are not transparent about what they do with it and that is dangerous.
“I don’t know how we have got ourselves in this position and why we’re not more worried about it. No-one seems to care, and I don’t know what it will take for people to wake up. It is damaging our freedom and our children’s freedoms.
“Free in the technology industry is the opposite of freedom. We are in for a very unequal and rough ride, and it will be the wealth and better educated who will be able to protect themselves.”
Meanwhile, Carole Wright said a “big vision” was needed for how data about schools was used by the government, during an EDUCATE webinar on Learning from Data post-Covid.
During a discussion about the levels of collaboration between organisations, companies and bodies that had collected information during the pandemic, Ms Wright raised concerns about how data handed to the government might be used, particularly in the light of the recent controversy over the proposed selling of patients’ health data.
She said that individual EdTech suppliers were sharing insights with schools and communities but there was currently no mechanism for amalgamating that information to create a bigger picture.
“We have a real challenge ahead given some of the anxieties in the education system over the past couple of years,” she said. “There is a willingness to collaborate but a fear of how government might want to use data and how much will be shared.
“We need an honest discussion and to rebuild trust, with government developing a vision and articulating how different part of the data will be used. We all need to work together because there is a fear about more and more initiative-itis.”
EDUCATE’s webinar was the final even in the current series of discussions looking at what has been learned during the pandemic and how this might influence policy in the future. A further article on the webinar will be published over the weekend.
