Following President Obama’s endorsement of a Student Privacy Pledge last week Google Inc.  has now joined other tech giants Microsoft and Apple Inc., as well as a long list (91 at time of writing) of other companies, in signing the pledge. A question a lot of people have asked is why did it take Google so long to sign? Obama’s endorsement may be the answer.

During Obama’s speech he said he was dedicated to protecting students’ data and that he would soon bring in new legislation to do just that. He was forthright in asking tech companies to also sign the pledge, adding that those who didn’t would be known to parents. The speech, which also included the issue of identity theft, introduced two pieces of new legislation. The first, called the Personal Data Notification and Protection Act, will force companies to disclose information about stolen or “misused” data to consumers within 30 days; the second named the Student Data Privacy Act, imposes stringent limits concerning companies collecting data on students and teachers.

The pledge is aimed at preventing companies from targeting students with behavior-based advertising while forbidding the sale of students’ data to advertising and marketing companies. Obama also asked for more transparency regarding what parents know about what information companies might be collecting from their children, stating, “We want to make sure our children being smart and safe online.” The full speech is available on YouTube.

Privacy advocates have congratulated the move although concerns were raised as to why it took Google (and Amazon) some time to catch up to Microsoft and Apple. Google has already been chastised in the past for putting advertisements on its Apps for Education as well as scanning students’ emails sent through the app, although later the company removed the ads and pledged not to collect information on students for the purposes of advertising.

The Wall Street Journal reports, “Google said it didn’t sign the pledge, which prescribes data-handling policies, because the company’s contracts and policies demonstrate a commitment to student privacy. It has been tripped up after signing a broad industry pledge before.” It was alluded to in the same article that President Obama’s endorsement may have encouraged the signing. Google has yet to comment on the reason for a slow walk to the signatory bench.

Photo credit: US Department of Education via photopin cc