SCAN NO MORE: Today, Google announced two new ad-related updates to Google Apps for Education--a move possibly precipitated by SafeGov.org's student data mining accusations from earlier this year. First, engineers have removed the "enable/disable" toggle for ads in the Apps for Ed Administrator console, i.e. ads in Apps for Ed services are turned off, and no administrators can turn them back on. Next up, Google has permanently removed all ads scanning in Gmail, meaning that Google cannot collect or use student data for advertising purposes. Check on the Google Enterprise blog for more details.
On Thursday, May 1 at 9:00 am PT, Google will host a Hangout on Air on the Google for Education G+ page with Jonathan Rochelle, Director of Product Management for Docs and Drive and Hank Thiele, Chief Technology Officer for District 207 in Park Ridge to discuss changes and answer questions from the public. Will SafeGov show up? That remains to be seen.
