Turning Life On - Intentional Tech Coalition Concord
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Published Feb 21, 2026
Opt Out of Google for Education Additional Services, like YouTube
Update: We are halfway there! Additional Services have been removed from CMS and elementary accounts but are still available to CCHS students. If your child is in HS, please take action to OPT OUT of Google's Additional Services, like YouTube. Districts are REQUIRED to obtain parental consent BEFORE these services are available to students. Concord Public Schools and Concord Carlisle Regional School District are in VIOLATION of this policy as required by federal laws that protect sensitive student data. Send a message to district leadership that parents are paying attention, and we care about our children's privacy.
Ready to take action?
Protect your student's sensitive personal data by opting OUT of Google Additional Services, like YouTube. Send a message to district leadership that parents are paying attention and we care about our children's privacy.
Why This Action Matters
Update: We are halfway there!! Additional Services have been removed from CMS accounts but NOT CCHS accounts. CCPS is still not in compliance. If your child is in HS, we encourage you to take action.
On Friday before February break, buried in the district email, there was a Google Policy Update. You probably missed it, so let us summarize what it did and didn’t say:
On Friday before February break, buried in the district email, there was a Google Policy Update. You probably missed it, so let us summarize what it did and didn’t say:
In September of 2024, Google notified all Google for Education admins of Terms of Service Policy (TOS) changes that would become active in March of 2025. (Read about that change here). These Google for Education TOS changes are the result of federal laws (COPPA) and an FTC brief that prohibit student data collection without obtained parental consent. In order to comply with the law, Google’s updated TOS agreement states that Additional Services must be disabled for all students under 18 unless parental consent is obtained.
In the months that followed, Lexington, Arlington, Westborough and other districts in the state, removed "additional services" from student accounts in an effort to protect student data and to remain in compliance with federal laws and Google's Terms of Service.
In October, parents in our district reached out to Justin Cameron and requested that YouTube be removed from student accounts as the service agreement had changed and parents had not granted consent. For a quick moment, YouTube was blocked at CMS but then reappeared. In November, we provided Arlington's and Lexington’s policy updates, and connected Justin with parents and educators in those communities. We also provided detailed instructions on how teachers could load content into Google classroom so videos could still be safely accessed by students. In December, we followed up again with the Google service agreement and a video on how to upload videos to Google Classroom. Justin relayed all information to Dr. Hunter.
In the 2/13 letter to parents, Dr. Hunter provides parents with the option to “Opt Out” of Additional Services. This contradicts what is required by Google’s own terms of service agreement (see attached) AND parental rights as dictated by federal laws. To be clear, Google's additional services mine student data that is otherwise protected by law. This is why the requirement is opt IN and NOT out, as offered by the district.
An “opt out” paradigm does not support effective consent. Consent must be fully informed, actually voluntary—meaning parents can say no without consequence—and communicated by the parent, which means a parent can’t agree by simply failing to opt out, especially when it’s tied to their child’s (compulsory) education.
An “opt out” paradigm does not support effective consent. Consent must be fully informed, actually voluntary—meaning parents can say no without consequence—and communicated by the parent, which means a parent can’t agree by simply failing to opt out, especially when it’s tied to their child’s (compulsory) education.
Why opting out is important:
- Protect your child's sensitive personal information from being collected by Google
- Protect your child from targeted ads on Google platforms
- Send a message to the district that we care and are paying attention
- Force the district to act sooner in transferring videos used for lessons on to the Google platform (if more parents opt out, teachers will need to accommodate those students now instead of on their own timeline)
Opt Out of Google’s Additional Services here.
You can also email Dr. Hunter at lhunter@concordps.org and the school committee at concordcarlisleschoolcommittee@concordps.org.
To read the letter from the district about the Google Policy Update, click here.
You can find info from Google here.
You can read about how COPPA and an FTC Amicus Brief require parental consent for the collection of student data in education here.
You can also email Dr. Hunter at lhunter@concordps.org and the school committee at concordcarlisleschoolcommittee@concordps.org.
To read the letter from the district about the Google Policy Update, click here.
You can find info from Google here.
You can read about how COPPA and an FTC Amicus Brief require parental consent for the collection of student data in education here.
Google’s own policy agreement reads:
"Additional Services are turned off by default for primary and secondary institutions (K-12), and admins are required to get parental consent before enabling an Additional Service for end users under age 18. (see here).
On a separate but related topic: YouTube is currently being sued, alongside Meta, for harming children with addictive social media. Read more here.
Questions or comments? Please let us know!
On a separate but related topic: YouTube is currently being sued, alongside Meta, for harming children with addictive social media. Read more here.
Questions or comments? Please let us know!