Schools can use ChromeOS safely, but they must disable options themselves

Schools can safely use Google Chrome, ChromeOS and Chromebooks, but they must disable a number of options themselves. This is what Dutch Minister Mariëlle Paul said after research by SURF and SIVON.

The Dutch government concluded in 2021 that Google Workspace for Education, ChromeOS and Chromebooks did not comply with the GDPR. The government then entered into consultation with Google to make adjustments so that the software and services would comply.

In the meantime, there are no longer high risks in Google's services, Minister Paul reports. “To ensure that the measures agreed with Google are implemented, schools and school boards must implement a number of new settings themselves.” Surf confirms this and the manuals show that administrators should disable, among other things, the Chrome Web Store, Google Play integration and Privacy Sandbox.

In addition, there are a number of pieces of advice that SURF gives that are not have to do with the Data Protection Impact Assessment or DPIA. SURF recommends, among other things, replacing Google as a search engine with DuckDuckGo, Startpage or another more privacy-friendly alternative. SURF also recommends installing an ad blocker.

Google Workspace Admin