The lawsuit, filed in 2014, claimed that Google violated the federal and state wiretap and privacy

laws by scanning and indexing the emails of millions of students who used its Apps for Education

suite, which included Gmail as a key feature12. The plaintiffs alleged that Google used the

information from the scans to build profiles of students that could be used for targeted advertising or

other commercial purposes, without their consent or knowledge12. The lawsuit also challenged

Google’s argument that the students consented to the scans when they first logged in to their

accounts, saying that such consent was not valid under FERPA, which requires written consent for

any disclosure of education records12. Google denied the allegations and argued that the scans were

necessary for providing security, spam protection, and other functionality to the users12. The case

was settled in 2016, with Google agreeing to change some of its practices and policies regarding the

scanning of student emails3. Reference: 1: Lawsuit Alleges That Google Has Crossed A ‘Creepy Line’

With Student Data, Huffington Post, 1. 2: Google faces lawsuit over email scanning and student data,

The Guardian, 2. 3: Google data case to be heard in Supreme Court, BBC, 3.