IXL Learning Faces Lawsuit Over Claims of Violating Children’s Data Privacy (2024)

Education technology company IXL Learning is facing a class action lawsuit over allegations that it improperly collected and sold children’s personal information without their knowledge or consent.

California-based IXL is a subscription-based learning site that contracts with school districts. The company says more than 15 million K-12 students across the nation use its platform.

The case is being brought in federal court by three Kansas families whose children have used these platforms, represented by attorneys with a personal injury law firm and the EdTech Law Center, a firm that seeks to counter what it sees as improper practices by the ed-tech industry.

The families allege that IXL fails to obtain consent for its collection and use of children’s data, and that the company’s practices increase the risk of identity theft and fraud from cyberattacks. The lawsuit also says the company’s site embeds tracking systems into visitors’ devices so that users are being tracked long after they leave the online platform.

“Right now, ed-tech companies are operating with reckless abandon as to the information that they believe they’re entitled to collect and the ways they think they can use it,” said Julie Liddell, an EdTech Law Center attorney representing the families, in an interview.

“Kids should be as protected at school as adults are when they’re browsing the web,” she added, “which means full disclosure of a company’s data practices, what’s collected, how it’s stored, who has access to it, how it’s used, and also informed, voluntary consent.”

Question of Disclosure

Representatives of IXL sent a written response to EdWeek Market Brief ‘s request for comment.

“Student privacy is of the utmost importance to IXL,” the company said. The organization says it adheres to the federal Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act, or COPPA, “and we work closely with our school and district partners to protect student data and comply with all student data privacy laws.”

“This legal complaint was not filed by any school district or government agency but rather by three parents,” the company added. “[It] appears that their claims are based on speculative concerns about educational technology in general rather than anything specific and factual about IXL.”

IXL provides curriculum in subjects such as math, language arts, science, social studies, and Spanish. It says it will seek to have the lawsuit dismissed.

The lawsuit states that IXL does not fully disclose what data it collects from children and their families, and does not allow the data it collects — or the information it generates using that data — to be reviewed by students and parents.

The Federal Trade Commission has warned ed-tech companies over the past few years that there will be increased scrutiny and consequences if they violate children’s data privacy.

For parents’ to make informed decisions about whether to allow their children to use various forms of ed tech, Liddell said, they have to “have a full understanding of the benefits and risks of these practices.”

See also:

• Pearson Files Lawsuit Against Ed-Tech Company Chegg, Alleging Improper Lifting of Content
• FTC’s Newly Proposed Privacy Rules Could Bring “Substantial Changes” to Ed-Tech Industry
• Ed-Tech Industry Group Calls for Equity, Data Privacy Safeguards in AI
• Facial Age-Estimation Tech Weighed by Feds as Children’s Privacy Protection Option

Alexandria Ng is a staff writer for EdWeek Market Brief. She covers product development and innovation, including topics such as educational technology, data privacy, and artificial intelligence. She has a background in business journalism and was a former participant in the Dow Jones News Fund digital media program.