Report: Remote learning apps used in US schools tracked kids’ data without their knowledge

A teacher at Yung Wing School P.S. 124 wears a mask and teaches remotely from her classroom on Sept. 24, 2020, in New York. Many of the same platforms used to support teaching during what turned out to be nearly two years of at-home learning tracked students without their knowledge and shared that data with big tech companies like Facebook and Google, according to a report. — Getty Images/TNS

When the coronavirus pandemic upended traditional methods of delivering education, school districts across the US and the globe turned to online learning platforms.

It was a quick pivot. Miami-Dade County Schools, for example, switched from in-person learning to fully remote learning in a two-week time frame that overlapped with spring break, offering what many thought would be a temporary fix.