Microsoft Collects ‘Massive’ Amounts of Info From K-12 Students Without Parental Consent, Class Action Lawsuit Claims

New to ClassAction.org? Read our Newswire Disclaimer

Microsoft faces a proposed class action lawsuit that alleges the tech giant unlawfully uses the educational products it provides to K-12 public schools in Washington to harvest vast amounts of student data, which it then converts into hyper-detailed “psychographic” profiles that are used for commercial gain.   

Want to stay in the loop on class action lawsuits that matter to you? Sign up for ClassAction.org’s free weekly newsletter.

The 60-page privacy lawsuit contends that Microsoft uses the “vast troves” of student information it collects from its K-12 educational products to create a digital profile of each student, which the defendant then uses to generate robust student analytics “disproportionate to the needs of schools” to improve, market and deliver its own products and services, all without parental consent.

According to the case, Microsoft deploys its “expansive data-mining operation” through personal computers, its Windows operating system, the Microsoft Edge web browser, Microsoft Minecraft Education, and Microsoft 365 Education, a cloud-based software suite that includes Word, Excel, PowerPoint and more.

The filing claims that Microsoft collects massive amounts of student information—such as educational records, behavioral data, attendance and participation, health data and “telemetric” data, such as how quickly a student scrolls, types and clicks—from products that are a mandatory part of a child’s education without providing notice to or obtaining consent from parents of children under the age of 13, all while allegedly denying parents access to the information the company collects about their children, in violation of the federal Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA).

Further, the Microsoft class action lawsuit says that the company’s data-collection practices flout Washington’s My Health My Data Act, which requires entities to obtain consent before collecting health data, maintain a health data privacy policy that identifies what information is collected and why, and establish security practices to maintain confidentiality of health information.

“Microsoft’s data practices force students to entirely forgo their rights in order to receive the education to which they are legally entitled,” the suit charges.

The case alleges that Microsoft uses the student data it collects to create “insights” about each student, which are aggregated into a profile that constitutes a “lasting record of every aspect of the student.” Critically, Microsoft uses student profiles to predict every aspect of a student’s life, including academic trajectory, physical and mental well-being, behavioral deviations and social adaptations, per the complaint.

“Microsoft’s data-harvesting apparatus spans every level of this system, transforming the classroom into an environment of persistent digital surveillance, data extraction, and algorithmic profiling,” the suit claims.

Importantly, student profiles and predictions are used for commercial purposes, as the data informs how Microsoft advertises, promotes, develops and improves its products to grow its revenue, the filing claims, adding that student data is even used to train generative AI models.

The filing says Microsoft’s data collection practices “far exceed” what parents would reasonably expect from educational products used in compulsory K-12 education, given that students have no choice but to use required school products and software.

The lawsuit notes that this is not the first time Microsoft has been accused of collecting children’s data without consent. In 2023, Microsoft agreed to a $20 million settlement to resolve allegations that the company violated COPPA, as it allegedly collected children’s information without parental consent, failed to inform parents and retained the information for longer than necessary.

The Microsoft class action lawsuit seeks to cover all Washington citizens who attend or attended a K-12 school and used one or more Microsoft products.

Check out ClassAction.org’s lawsuit list for the latest open class action lawsuits and investigations.