Lawsuit claims popular i-Ready learning app violates student privacy

Source Domain: www.fox13news.com

TAMPA, Fla – A popular digital learning program used in classrooms across Florida, and throughout the U.S., is at the center of a legal battle over student privacy.

The program, known as i-Ready, is used in nearly 60 school districts statewide, including several in the Bay Area.

It provides reading and math instruction while tracking student progress throughout the school year.

Now, a California mother has filed a lawsuit against its parent company, Curriculum Associates, alleging the platform is collecting and potentially sharing sensitive student data.

Nicki Petrossi, an online safety advocate and the parent behind the lawsuit, said she was unaware of how much information was being gathered.

“We didn’t know what they were doing with that data. Who are they sharing it with? Who are they selling it to?” Petrossi said.

What we know:

The lawsuit claims i-Ready collects more than 80 categories of student data, including personal identifiers and behavioral information.

Petrossi said that includes names, birthdates, gender, contact details, race, IP addresses, and even psychological and behavioral data.

“We are alleging that Curriculum Associates data practices violate our kids’ fundamental right to privacy and the parents’ right to protect our children from exploitation,” she told FOX 13.

Andrew Liddell, an attorney with the EdTech Law Center and part of the legal team, said the issue goes beyond basic data collection.

“They’re also using information that they collect to create detailed behavioral profiles on students that are used to determine their life chances,” Liddell said.

The lawsuit further alleges that some of this data is being shared with third-party companies. According to Liddell, forensic analysis identified at least one destination.

“Our investigation revealed that information is being transmitted to Google’s ad business, to Google Analytics. And that is a directly commercial activity separate and apart from any benefit to Curriculum…

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