In case you’ve been living under a rock that doesn’t have Wi-Fi, the NSA is apparently monitoring what you do. Everyone went crazy when they found out, although I personally don’t care because all the NSA will find out about me is I’m pretty boring. And remember, right or wrong, governments have been doing this for thousands of years – remember our discussion of the runners in ancient civilizations?

Anyway, a lawsuit in California now alleges that Google has been mining student email messages that were sent through its ‘Apps for Education‘ service, which provides tools that can be used by educators  at all levels, including K-12, colleges and universities, to hopefully facilitate learning. When we say mining, we mean they have been looking for keywords, patterns, phrases, and generally scanning their contents which would allow them, apparently, to provide targeted advertising. The real issue, however, is that the data was also used to create user profiles of those who utilized the service.

Google claims that users of Apps for Education, of which Gmail is an integral part, can turn off the advertisements. Even so, their information is still mined and profiles still created as Google themselves admit. As thee article states, this might be a violation of the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, or FERPA.

Here’s my take. OF COURSE they’re going to be mining all the data they can. Google even admitted recently that Google Plus was a big effort to track you, and collect and mine your data. The issue here is the privacy of students *required* to use a service as opposed to doing so electively. I can’t fault companies for wanting to mine data, they can make important and effective decisions that way. It’s *how* they go about it, and disclose it, that’s important.

On the other hand, I always question the true motivations of class-action lawsuits, which this one is attempting to become. The plaintiffs want monetary damages, and that immediately makes me suspect it’s an opportunistic money-grab. I can’t imagine (although I don’t know) that anyone was hurt financially or so emotionally they need financial compensation. That aspect of the suit, at least for now, I disagree with.

Class-action status hasn’t yet been granted, but I could see it going either way. Ultimately, data mining will continue, it’s happening to all of us right now, and people don’t like it. But it is a useful tool for companies, and the ‘how’ still needs to be worked out.