SafeGov.org and Ponemon Institute Study Shows UK Schools Moving Rapidly to Adopt Cloud Computing, but Overwhelmingly Reject Business Models that Allow Cloud Providers to Mine Student Data for Profit

- The study presents a mixed picture of cloud services in UK schools: while a majority of schools expect to adopt such services, school staff are deeply concerned by the threat to student privacy posed by data mining of student email and online documents for profit by cloud providers

LONDON, May 23, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- SafeGov.org, in partnership with the Ponemon Institute, today released the results of a survey of UK schools designed to measure the views of school staff on the rapidly rising use of cloud services in the education sector and the potential risks to student privacy.  The study focused on cloud versions of email and document collaboration tools. While a majority of schools expect to migrate to such services in the near future, 81% of respondents object strongly to the mining of student emails, web browsing and online behaviour for profit by cloud providers, while 84% say providers should never profile students. Seventy percent say that even the option to turn on ad serving, or the delivery of advertisements to users online, should be completely removed from school-provided cloud services.  The findings also show that schools are increasingly looking to move to cloud services because they expect them to bring significant educational and social benefits to students, as well as being cheaper and easier to manage.

SafeGov.org commissioned the Ponemon Institute to conduct the survey of senior staff and IT practitioners in primary and secondary schools and related administrative organisations in the UK.  Respondents were asked to describe their schools' current and expected use of cloud-based services such as email and document collaboration, and to give their views about student online privacy and cloud provider business models based on data mining for profit.

Key findings of the research include the following:

• Schools believe cloud services will offer many benefits, helping students to acquire skills needed for employment (78%), thrive in modern society (63%), and obtain better results on national exams (51%)
• Cloud deployment in UK schools is growing rapidly: 68% of respondents expect to provide cloud email or document creation in the foreseeable future, while 25% already provide such services to their students
• Schools recognise that cloud services have a dark side: 74% see threats to student privacy as the top risk of cloud, followed by security breaches (70%)
• But the vast majority reject for-profit data mining of student information: 84% say cloud providers should never profile students for profit, while 70% say ad serving should never be an option
• Some schools admit to a conflict of interest regarding student privacy, but want to give parents the tools to protect their children: 47% say they might be tempted to trade student privacy for lower costs, but 44% also say parents should have the right to opt-out of data mining for their children

"We're very impressed and pleased to find that UK schools are rapidly adopting cloud services and see significant educational and social benefits in doing so, as well as cost savings," said Jeff Gould, President of SafeGov.org. "But our study also shows that UK schools clearly recognise the dark side of cloud computing, especially when cloud providers are allowed to data mine student emails and documents in order to create profiles that can be used for ad serving and other commercial purposes. As the migration to cloud services continues, UK schools, local councils and education authorities as well as the Department for Education at the national level need to develop concrete measures to ensure that strong privacy protections for students and school staff are put in place. Above all, we call on parents to recognise the risks to their children and to take action to ensure that the authorities adopt the proper response."

Larry Ponemon, chairman and founder, Ponemon Institute, added: "These results demonstrate significant potential for cloud services in UK schools, with IT administrators contemplating deployments in the immediate to near future, but at the same time overwhelming concerns regarding mining of student data for commercial use. The numbers indicate that these practices must be tackled before the full benefits of cloud computing can be realised."

A copy of the study can be accessed here.

For media inquiries, please contact Kate Tellier at ktellier@brunswickgroup.com or +32 2 235 65 37.

About the Ponemon Institute
The Ponemon Institute© is dedicated to advancing responsible information and privacy management practices in business and government. To achieve this objective, the Institute conducts independent research, educates leaders from the private and public sectors and verifies the privacy and data protection practices of organisations in a variety of industries.

About SafeGov.org
SafeGov.org is an online forum for IT providers and leading industry experts dedicated to promoting trusted and responsible cloud computing solutions for the public sector. By fostering a more comprehensive understanding of cloud technologies, including their benefits, capabilities and limitations, SafeGov.org works to empower government users to make well-informed procurement choices from the growing universe of marketplace offerings. For more information, please visit www.safegov.org, follow us on Twitter at @SafeGov, or read SafeGov's European blog.