At what point do we say that an online services provider has gone too far in violating privacy rights? Google (News - Alert), a titan among online services providers, provides millions of people with important services. All across the connected world people use Google services to check their emails, conduct online searches, to write and share documents, or even to watch videos on YouTube (News - Alert). Yet, many are not aware that Google’s policies might not be the most privacy friendly. By “not the most privacy friendly,” we mean that Google takes almost NSA levels of delving into users’ internet usage.

Some of this comes as no surprise, Google uses its users’ searches and data on how their services are used to help them compile information about those users’ interests. This helps them in tailoring their targeted advertising, a major source of income for the company. However, many aren’t aware that Google has also been “reading” their emails. Using software, Google has been scanning emails to find keywords, and using those keywords alongside the other data they have been collecting about users to build advertising profiles on the users. This scanning doesn’t occur when a user opens an email, it happens right when they are sent through Google’s servers.

For those who have not heard this yet, such news may be understandably upsetting. When someone begins to use Google’s consumer products, they are agreeing to abide by Google’s privacy policies. Thus, it may appear that the average consumer may have no recourse. However, this is not completely true, as there are several plaintiffs in California who have been trying to bring a class action case against Google for violating federal and state laws.

It seems that another group is going to be jumping into that foray, and this time they aren’t your average consumers. It has recently been discovered that Google has been using these data-mining practices not just with their consumer products, but also with their student oriented tool suite, Apps for Education.

Apps for Education is a tool suite that is used by both primary and higher educational institutions. This service provides students with simple access to Google’s services, from email to word processors. Students would not have to pay at all for the product, yet Apps for Education does not show advertisements within its services. Apps for Education also comes built into Google’s Chromebooks, an inexpensive alternative to laptops that is used by many students and schools.

It may seem, with the lack of advertisements that Apps for Education is pretty safe when it comes to privacy. Google has even made statements in the past that the data-mining practices that they use in their consumer products are automatically turned off with Apps for Education. Yet, a court statement and other evidence has shown that this is not true, and that not only is Google possibly mining the emails of students, but it may even be using this information to build advertising profiles of students.

Several institutions have decided that Google should not be allowed to get away with this, and are now filing complaints against Google for its privacy violations using Apps for Education. If they are successful, this court case can cost Google millions.The plaintiffs are pushing for a  class action suit that would pay $100 per student for everyday they have been using the service since 2011. Thousands are using the service even now.

The plaintiffs are claiming that Google has been in violation of Wiretapping laws, which is a serious allegation. It is also possible that Google’s data-mining of Apps for Education users is in violation of the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (FERPA). FERPA is meant to give parents access to their children’s records, and the ability to control who may access this information.