Classroom internet spies worry parents AUSTRALIAN parents are concerned that internet services which provide email platforms and educational apps in schools may also be spying on their kids for commercial purposes. The Australian Council of State School Organisations (ACCSO), which represents parents, has launched a petition calling on schools and governments to take action to prevent their children's data being mined at school for advertising. "Parents believe and rightly expect that new cloud-based applications in schools will deliver major benefits for their children," ACSSO President, Peter Garrigan said in a statement on Sunday. But there are real risks if external cloud providers are able to access children's sensitive digital footprints and then mine them for endless marketing opportunities. This poses a real threat to students' privacy for the rest of their lives. The SafeGov survey showed few Australian parents know much about data mining or whether their children are at risk of being tracked by internet firms in the classroom. However, more than 90 per cent of parents don't like the idea of children being tracked online in schools for targeted advertising. And four out of five parents want the practice banned, the survey, to be released in Sydney on Wednesday, found. Parents also want opt-out rights and laws giving them control over what internet ad firms do in school. "Parents have a right to know who has access to their children's rich and sensitive data, what they are doing with it and what is done with the data after the students leave school," Mr Garrigan said.