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GoGuardian Inc. is a software company that focuses on education. They offer a browser extension for Google Chrome that has been known to spy on people, give teachers/admins full control to your computer, and prevent suicide. (GoGuardian Beacon). GoGuardian has caused a lot of controversy, since it blocks websites.
{{InfoboxCompany
| Name = GoGuardian
| Type = Private
| Founded = 2015
| Industry = Education
| Official Website = https://www.goguardian.com/
| Logo = GoGuardian.png
}}


==Controversies==
[[Wikipedia:GoGuardian|'''GoGuardian Inc.''']] is a software company that focuses on education. They offer a few browser extensions for Google Chrome called "GoGuardian" that has been known to spy on people, give teachers/admins full control to your computer, and block websites. Another one is called "GoGuardian Beacon" which does the things previously mentioned as well as prevent suicide.{{CitationNeeded}} GoGuardian has caused a lot of controversy, as it accesses sensitive information.
GoGuardian, when the extension is only running on Google Chrome without a teacher monitoring, blocks a lot of websites, including privacy-focused search engines like DuckDuckGo and Brave Search.


Due to the fact almost everyone born after the early 2000s has dealt with this software, (including me) it is considered forced spyware with little to no workarounds, especially if the school requires students to use school-issued chromebooks.
==Consumer impact summary==
{{Placeholder box|Overview of concerns that arise from the company's conduct regarding (if applicable):
* User Freedom
* User Privacy
* Business Model
* Market Control}}


==Incidents==
===Student data collection concerns (2023)===
According to a study in 2023, school administrators using the GoGuardian admin tool have access to student "browsing histories, documents, videos, app and extension data, and content filtering and alerts."<ref name="EFF">{{Cite web |last=Kelley |first=Jason |date=30 Oct 2023 |title=How GoGuardian Invades Student Privacy |url=https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2023/10/how-goguardian-invades-student-privacy?language=en |url-status=live |access-date=15 Mar 2025 |website=[[EFF]]}}</ref> GoGuardian claims "they de-identify data before sharing it with third parties or other entities", though it is reported the data can be deanominized.<ref name="EFF" /> This is an issue as students in American school districts are under the age of 18, which if advertised to with targeted ads based on their GoGuardian data is a direct violation of the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA). Also, students who utilize this software as a service (SAAS) are forced into using school devices with the monitoring software preinstalled, such as Chromebooks.


(personal experience) Teachers have been known to abuse this software, like one of mine from last year who was running it for me all day (when they are only supposed to run it only for the duration of the class, not for the whole day) and set a 3 tab limit, blocked YouTube, and did other bad things.
====Workarounds====
There are a few workarounds, like going to task manager (Shift+Esc) and ending the GoGuardian process. Some schools have disabled ending processes as a result. Another workaround is using your own laptop with a browser other than Google Chrome.


GoGuardian knows what they are doing because on their youtube channel, they disabled comments on their videos. On some videos, they disabled like and dislike count but on others, the dislike percent is very high, usually 90-95%. (Data obtained from Return Youtube Dislike Extension)
==References==
 
<references />
==Workarounds==
[[Category:GoGuardian]]
There are a few workarounds, like going to task manager (Shift+Esc) and ending the GoGuardian process. Some schools have disabled ending processes as a result.
 
 
Another workaround is using your own laptop with a browser other than Google Chrome.
 
 
==Sources==
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2023/10/how-goguardian-invades-student-privacy?language=en
 
https://www.goguardian.com/
 
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GoGuardian
 
https://www.youtube.com/@GoGuardian

Latest revision as of 18:49, 15 March 2025

GoGuardian
Basic information
Founded 2015
Type Private
Industry Education
Official website https://www.goguardian.com/


GoGuardian Inc. is a software company that focuses on education. They offer a few browser extensions for Google Chrome called "GoGuardian" that has been known to spy on people, give teachers/admins full control to your computer, and block websites. Another one is called "GoGuardian Beacon" which does the things previously mentioned as well as prevent suicide.[citation needed] GoGuardian has caused a lot of controversy, as it accesses sensitive information.

Consumer impact summary[edit | edit source]

Overview of concerns that arise from the company's conduct regarding (if applicable):

  • User Freedom
  • User Privacy
  • Business Model
  • Market Control

Add your text below this box. Once this section is complete, delete this box by clicking on it and pressing backspace.

Incidents[edit | edit source]

Student data collection concerns (2023)[edit | edit source]

According to a study in 2023, school administrators using the GoGuardian admin tool have access to student "browsing histories, documents, videos, app and extension data, and content filtering and alerts."[1] GoGuardian claims "they de-identify data before sharing it with third parties or other entities", though it is reported the data can be deanominized.[1] This is an issue as students in American school districts are under the age of 18, which if advertised to with targeted ads based on their GoGuardian data is a direct violation of the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA). Also, students who utilize this software as a service (SAAS) are forced into using school devices with the monitoring software preinstalled, such as Chromebooks.

Workarounds[edit | edit source]

There are a few workarounds, like going to task manager (Shift+Esc) and ending the GoGuardian process. Some schools have disabled ending processes as a result. Another workaround is using your own laptop with a browser other than Google Chrome.

References[edit | edit source]

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Kelley, Jason (30 Oct 2023). "How GoGuardian Invades Student Privacy". EFF. Retrieved 15 Mar 2025.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
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