Schools started giving out Chromebooks for education, but too often they result in exploitation. From exposing kids to pornography or to predators on dangerous platforms, to failing parents with clunky, ineffective safety tools, Google’s educational devices are a liability for kids, parents, and schools. Profit-driven design has trumped protection for too long. Google must stop shirking responsibility and make child safety the default.

Google Chromebooks have achieved market dominance in schools. But they are riddled with serious flaws that jeopardize the safety and well-being of K–12 students.

Samantha (pseudonym) was just 10 years old when her school-issued Google Chromebook changed her life. Like so many students, Samantha was handed the device with the promise of learning in a safe environment. But what she received instead was exposure to a dark and dangerous side of the Internet. Through the Chromebook, she accessed Discord, a platform that should have been out of reach for a child her age. It was there that she was targeted by a predator who sent her explicit and abusive messages, detailing ways this person planned to sexually assault her and even kidnap her.

Samantha’s father discovered this abuse when helping her with homework, and he was horrified. Her parents, desperate to protect her, found themselves blocked by administrative restrictions, unable to manage the settings on her school-issued device.The very tool meant to empower her education instead facilitated her victimization.

Background: Google has been embedding itself in schools for years, promising “education for today and beyond.” And a core element of this business strategy has been to get their lightweight cloud-based laptops, Google Chromebooks, into the hands of students.

And it’s worked. According to 2025 data from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), “About 9 in 10 public schools (88 percent) have a 1-to-1 computing program that provides every student a school-issued device, such as a laptop or tablet for the 2024–25 school year.” And a 2025 data summary asserts that 93% of U.S. school districts “intend to purchase Chromebooks” specifically.

At the heart of the issue is the Google Chromebook default settings, which have been reported to recklessly grant students essentially open access to almost the entire internet, exposing them to harmful content like pornography, violence, sextortion, and cyberbullying. And some have claimed that Google’s search algorithms, designed to prioritize maximally “engaging” content, actively push dangerous material to minors, amplifying the risks.

These are glaring failures to prioritize child safety for devices intentionally marketed and given to children.

Further, while Chromebooks open the door to online harms, they also fail to provide schools and parents with the necessary warnings or the tools to appropriately manage these risks. The Admin Console, which is supposed to help configure safety settings, is not user friendly and requires constant upkeep and attention. A lawsuit on behalf of a minor who was abused via her Chromebook states:

Google provides tools that, if used, can make its Products somewhat less dangerous, but schools must pay extra for them. And settings within its Admin Console may be reconfigured to make the Products less dangerous, but they are overwhelming: potentially numbering over a thousand, they are ever-changing and difficult to navigate. Thus, Google’s Products are designed in a manner that is dangerous and difficult to reconfigure. They could and should be made safe out of the box. [emphasis added.]

The same lawsuit goes on to state: “Google forces onto schools and parents the responsibility of making its Products less dangerous for students, and onto students the responsibility of not getting hurt while using them.”

Even when fully implemented, these tools fail to address the inherent dangers of unrestricted internet access, leaving students exposed to harmful content and predatory behavior.

This issue hits especially close to home for the National Center on Sexual Exploitation. Back in 2021, Google Chromebooks earned a spot on our Dirty Dozen List because of their default settings. At the time, Google promised to do better, announcing changes to default safety settings and pledging to prioritize child safety. But those promises have fallen heartbreakingly short. The devastating story of Samantha, exploited through her school-issued Chromebook in 2023, is proof that Google has not kept its word.

Despite being warned about these dangers years ago, Google continues to design Chromebooks that allow open internet access, promote harmful content, and leave parents and schools helpless to shield their children.

Learn more about the Dirty Dozen List and how you can help stop the predation of your child.