The pandemic has only hastened the transformation of the education sector, with students increasingly forced to rely on screens and platforms. But is it being transformed in ways that serve and promote children’s best interests — or the commercial interests of the private firms who increasingly dominate the educational landscape?

As reliance on educational technologies (EdTech) rises — with the global market growing thirty-two-fold since 2010, reaching $16 billion last year — so, too, does the influence of their providers. Indeed, these latter are actively and strategically shaping the direction and character of education systems in ways that lawmakers and educators can barely understand, and are not well-placed to monitor. Today, there is little oversight or dedicated regulation to protect children’s data — bearing significant long-term risks for society at large.

Little-understood digital education platforms and ever-evolving digital services — including data analytics and sophisticated tools for prediction and precision — are today being adopted by governments and supplied by private businesses. But there is little consideration for the long-term impact on children, education, and wider society. The foundation of such platform systems, many with embedded artificial intelligence, machine learning, and automated decision-making built in, depend on harvesting vast quantities of granular data generated and collected every day.