GoGuardian: Difference between revisions

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[[Wikipedia:GoGuardian|'''GoGuardian Inc.''']] is a software company focused on education. They offer browser extensions for Google Chrome and software for Windows called "GoGuardian," which has been known to spy on people. GoGuardian allows teachers/admins to have full control to your computer, block websites, and monitor web traffic. They also offer a product called "GoGuardian Beacon," which does the things previously mentioned as well as prevent suicide.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Youth suicide isn't just an issue — it's a national crisis. |url=https://www.goguardian.com/suicide-self-harm-resources |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250615011048/https://www.goguardian.com/suicide-self-harm-resources |archive-date=2025-06-15 |access-date=2025-06-17 |website=GoGuardian}}</ref> GoGuardian has caused a lot of controversy, as it accesses sensitive information, primarily pertaining to students.

[[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.

==Consumer impact summary==

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==Incidents==

===Student data collection concerns ~~(2023)~~===

===Student data collection concerns===

~~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.~~

The GoGuardian suite collects a variety of student information, including school account information (name, profile picture, and email address), browsing history, geographic device location, email content, screenshots (which are automatically taken on the user's device and displayed to administrators), and keystroke variance to identify user activity.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Product Privacy Policy |url=https://www.goguardian.com/policies/product-privacy |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250720182619/https://www.goguardian.com/policies/product-privacy |archive-date=2025-07-20 |website=GoGuardian |at=§1.4 GoGuardian Personal Student Information}}</ref> Such information may be anonymized and used for GoGuardian product marketing or development.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Product Privacy Policy |url=https://www.goguardian.com/policies/product-privacy |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250720182619/https://www.goguardian.com/policies/product-privacy |archive-date=2025-07-20 |website=GoGuardian |at=§4 How We Disclose Information Collected Through Our Offerings |quote="We may use, share, or disclose De-Identified information (as that term is defined in our EULA) for various purposes such as product development, research, and marketing, in compliance with relevant laws."}}</ref> Several concerns exist surrounding the granularity of the information, including the possibility of such data being [[De-anonymization|de-anonymized]]. Another issue arises due to an overwhelmingly large amount of school-issued devices having GoGuardian installed<ref>{{Cite web |title=GoGuardian {{!}} Engaging Digital Learning For Schools |url=https://goguardian.com |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250723161808/https://www.goguardian.com/ |archive-date=2025-07-23 |website=GoGuardian |quote="GoGuardian products are used by nearly 50% of public and private K-12 students in the United States."}}</ref> (and often forcibly enabled) by school administrators, which limits the user's ability to restrict data collection and disclosure.

====~~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~~.

==References==

[[Category:GoGuardian]]

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+[[Wikipedia:GoGuardian|'''GoGuardian Inc.''']] is a software company focused on education. They offer browser extensions for Google Chrome and software for Windows called "GoGuardian," which has been known to spy on people. GoGuardian allows teachers/admins to have full control to your computer, block websites, and monitor web traffic. They also offer a product called "GoGuardian Beacon," which does the things previously mentioned as well as prevent suicide.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Youth suicide isn't just an issue — it's a national crisis. |url=https://www.goguardian.com/suicide-self-harm-resources |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250615011048/https://www.goguardian.com/suicide-self-harm-resources |archive-date=2025-06-15 |access-date=2025-06-17 |website=GoGuardian}}</ref> GoGuardian has caused a lot of controversy, as it accesses sensitive information, primarily pertaining to students.
-[[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.
 ==Consumer impact summary==
@@ Line 18: / Line 17: @@
 ==Incidents==
-===Student data collection concerns (2023)===
+===Student data collection concerns===
-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.
+The GoGuardian suite collects a variety of student information, including school account information (name, profile picture, and email address), browsing history, geographic device location, email content, screenshots (which are automatically taken on the user's device and displayed to administrators), and keystroke variance to identify user activity.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Product Privacy Policy |url=https://www.goguardian.com/policies/product-privacy |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250720182619/https://www.goguardian.com/policies/product-privacy |archive-date=2025-07-20 |website=GoGuardian |at=§1.4 GoGuardian Personal Student Information}}</ref> Such information may be anonymized and used for GoGuardian product marketing or development.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Product Privacy Policy |url=https://www.goguardian.com/policies/product-privacy |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250720182619/https://www.goguardian.com/policies/product-privacy |archive-date=2025-07-20 |website=GoGuardian |at=§4 How We Disclose Information Collected Through Our Offerings |quote="We may use, share, or disclose De-Identified information (as that term is defined in our EULA) for various purposes such as product development, research, and marketing, in compliance with relevant laws."}}</ref> Several concerns exist surrounding the granularity of the information, including the possibility of such data being [[De-anonymization|de-anonymized]]. Another issue arises due to an overwhelmingly large amount of school-issued devices having GoGuardian installed<ref>{{Cite web |title=GoGuardian {{!}} Engaging Digital Learning For Schools |url=https://goguardian.com |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250723161808/https://www.goguardian.com/ |archive-date=2025-07-23 |website=GoGuardian |quote="GoGuardian products are used by nearly 50% of public and private K-12 students in the United States."}}</ref> (and often forcibly enabled) by school administrators, which limits the user's ability to restrict data collection and disclosure.
-====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.
 ==References==
 <references />
 [[Category:GoGuardian]]