KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 11 — An education NGO today urged Putrajaya to keep school Internet access advertisement-free, over fears that children would be exposed to data privacy threats.
The Parent Action Group for Education Malaysia (PAGE) said Malaysian parents believe online services such as email and document collaboration offer a wide range of benefits for students, but worry that their children’s privacy could be at risk if third-parties are allowed to operate within schools’ online ecosystem.
Citing a survey they jointly conducted with international non-profit SafeGov.org, the group said that parents have high hopes that their children can gain skills that will help them in future through the Internet.
“However, the survey also found that many Malaysian parents see a potential dark side to the use of certain Internet services in schools, especially those that allow online advertising or engage in ‘data mining’ of children’s information,” PAGE said in a statement.
PAGE said over 90 per cent of the 400 parents surveyed were worried that their children’s online activities in school could be tracked for profit by Internet service providers (ISP) who rely on advertising revenue.
Nearly three quarters of the respondents had no issue with schools accepting free services offered by Internet companies, but an overwhelming majority, at 92 per cent want schools to at the same time ban all advertising-related practices from such services in schools.
“Eighty-two per cent of parents want the government to pass laws enforcing the ban on online advertising in schools and give parents full control over what kinds of information about their children the Internet companies are allowed to collect,” the statement added.
PAGE noted that despite the concerns, parents viewed school Internet access positively, with the majority believing that the Internet would help improve their children’s creativity, problem solving and critical thinking.
Similarly, over three quarters of the respondents believe that the Internet would help their children acquire essential skills to compete in the 21st century global economy, while also pad up their abilities in traditional academic subjects such as the sciences and foreign languages.
“Interestingly, the survey shows that parents with pre-tertiary education have even higher hopes than others for the educational benefits of Internet services in school, thus suggesting that social equality may be served by the spread of technology in the right conditions,” said PAGE.
Jeff Gould, the spokesman for SafeGov.org — which promotes safe and secure use of cloud computing in schools, governments and public sector institutions globally — said the results showed clearly that Malaysian parents were against any violation of their children’s privacy in school.
“These results offer powerful confirmation that Malaysian parents, like their peers in every other country we have surveyed, hold the highest hopes for Internet use in schools, but firmly reject any intrusion into the classroom of online advertising or profiling of students for commercial purposes.”
PAGE chairman Datin Noor Azimah Abdul Rahim said it is their priority to make sure that any internet services and online learning introduced in the classroom is done in “the safest and most non-intrusive way” to protect children’s privacy.
“Technology in schools will have a significant impact on the learning experiences of our children and their future beyond school and education, and it’s important that we have all parties on-board ready to embrace these changes,” she said.
