Google being sued for spying on schoolkids; SWFL parent not surprised

Is Google spying on your kids?

New Mexico has filed a lawsuit against Google, claiming it is monitoring every movement of children who use Google Chromebooks.

Tens of thousands of students right here in Southwest Florida use those laptops.

Nicole Fitzpatrick lives in Cape Coral. She is a mother of seven, and three of her children each use Chromebooks for school. She said, unfortunately, she’s’ not surprised to hear about new claims against Google.

“My son, right now, he’s writing a report on coronavirus,” Fitzpatrick said. “So he was doing a lot of research when it came to that.”

The New Mexico lawsuit says more than 25 million students and teachers use the Google-powered laptops in schools across the country.

Filed by New Mexico’s attorney general, the lawsuit alleges Google has “Deliberately deceived parents and teachers and used Google education to spy on New Mexico children and their families,” by collecting personal info such as voice recordings, saved passwords and even physical locations.

“I wasn’t surprised because it just seems like it’s a constant thing where information is being leaked,” Fitzpatrick said.

A Google spokesperson told CBS News the claims were factually wrong.

We reached out to School District of Lee County about the New Mexico lawsuit. A District spokesperson told us, “We have no evidence to suggest Google violated their privacy pledge.” And they’ll continue to monitor the suit.

MORE: New Mexico lawsuit filed against Google