Parents have expressed concern over the use of Chinese software by some schools to store information about students, Democratic Progressive Party Taipei City Councilor Hsu Chia-pei (許家蓓) said.
Hsu said that a parent approached her after their child’s school asked them to download and register for the mobile app “eClass Parent Taiwan,” which the school uses to track information such as parents’ contact information and students’ arrival and departure time at the school.
After the parent logged into the app they noticed that its end-user licensing agreement (EULA) listed a Hong Kong-registered firm, with the territory’s judiciary having jurisdiction over legal issues related to the use of the app, she said.
The parent posted screenshots of the EULA on the Professional Technology Temple (PTT) online bulletin board, where others commented that using the app would put students’ and parents’ personal information at risk, and that collection of Taiwanese users’ information by the Hong Kong company would be a contravention of the Personal Data Protection Act (個人資料保護法).
The parent said that on the app’s screen where they were asked to select their child’s school, the list included the following: Taipei’s Minglun Senior High School and Chingshin Academy; New Taipei City’s Lujiang Junior High School and Kang Chiao International School; Taoyuan’s Ruey Tarng Elementary School; Taichung’s Affiliated High School of Tunghai University and Chih-Yung Senior High School; Tainan’s National Beimen Senior High School and Shengli Primary School; and Kaohsiung’s Chung Shan Senior High School.
However, after the issue was exposed online, Minglun Senior High School and Kang Chiao International School disappeared from the list.
The line stipulating that Hong Kong’s judiciary had jurisdiction over legal issues associated with the use of the app also disappeared from the Chinese-language version of the EULA.
However, a line stipulating that the English-language version of the EULA took precedence in the event of any discrepancies between the two versions remained.
Both versions of the EULA also state that the company could change the EULA at any time without first notifying the user.
This was a breach of users’ rights and might also contravene the data protection act, Hsu said.
PTT users commented that some schools had already imported students’ information into the app before the school year started, sparking concern among parents that the Hong Kong company has gained access to their children’s names and other information.
Taipei Department of Education Chief Secretary Chen Su-hui (陳素慧) said the government does not provide public schools with funds to purchase apps, and private schools must use apps that conform with data-protection laws and must inform parents how the information would be used.
Chen said she would get in touch with the private schools to further investigate the matter.
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