SketchUp for Schools, GDPR, Trimble data processing agreement

SketchUp for Schools
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Hoping to get some clarifications on the personal data processing in SketchUp for Schools.
The privacy policy states that no account data is collected and still SketchUp requires access to the account. For example, if students sign with Google account. SketchUp requires access to Google Drive, which means that SketchUp processes student data. Without a data processing agreement, it means that SketchUp processes it as data controller. With the privacy policy being so narrow and stating that no data is collected the purposes for processing remain unclear.

It would be appreciated if you could provide further documentation on how you do not collect student data, while still requiring access to the account.

Trimble has a data processing agreement available, but as Trimble provides several different services, it is not clear whether this data processing agreement applies to SketchUp for Schools as well. Is there a possibility to enter into a data processing agreement for SketchUp for schools?

We are looking for confirmation whether data processing agreement can be done, if not, then better documentation on how personal data is really processed in SketchUp for Schools.

Thank you.

2

Hi @finschool Thanks for the post. I am not a legal expert and can’t comment on anything in an official capacity but I can run your question over to the right team members and see if I can get an official answer for you to clarify things a bit.

I can however comment on the technical side of things. I can confirm that we do not store any student data with SketchUp for Schools. The only reason we need access to the student’s Google Drive is so they can save any files they create with the SketchUp for Schools app. Without access to the drive, students would be unable to save their work and while I am the first to admit, it does sound more than a little ominous with the way it is all phrased, we do our best to alleviate any fears that people may have with posts like this and official statements whenever possible.

Anyway, I’ll see if I can get a hold of someone who can help although I do ask for your understanding if it takes a little longer than normal as some members of our team are just getting back to the office after the holidays so they might need a day or two to get caught up.

3

Hi again @finschool. Thanks for your patience with all of this. We are working on a better version of our agreement for SketchUp for Schools that will be much more comprehensive and should answer a few more questions but as with all things like this, it is going to take some time to get it done. We are doing our best to get it done quickly but we can’t promise a release date for it just yet. Hopefully our legal team gets it done soon.

In the meantime, if you have specific questions I can do my best to get you an answer so feel free to ask me anything.

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Hi,
Good to hear.
I’ll be waiting for the new version of the agreement and further information regarding the personal data processing in SketchUp for Schools.

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Hi @CaseyG any updates at this point?

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Hi @CaseyG, I’m following up on my previous inquiry. I haven’t received a response. I would like to know if there are any updates on this.

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Hi,
Any update on this matter?
Is there any information whether SketchUp would be able to sign or provide a Data Processing Agreement that would cover the processing of student personal data?

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Also would love an update. We noticed an updated privacy policy unique to K-12 on the SketchUp website from this past summer. I passed it along to our district’s IT and lawyers to see if that might be enough to cover us (in Illinois). I’ll update here when I get an update.

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same situation as you would love an update on this would love to use Sketchup in my district. We had Autodesk Tinkercad sign the ed law 2d and they are COPPA Compliant as is sketchup is. I would love Trimble to change their stance sign the much needed documentation

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Our district layers said that the updated generic privacy policy was not enough for our school district in Illinois. We will need to continue to use the offline version of SketchUp. :frowning:

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ok this is very upsetting that Trimble will not sign … they are losing alot of districts in NY and educational exposure because of this..In my opinion regarding CAD Sketchup is my choice to teach because of how the platform presents itself to students. I unfortunately we have to learn a different form of CAD… very disappointing news, I wish google still owned Sketchup

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FWIW, if Google still owned SketchUp they would have killed it like loads of other applications and there never would have been a SketchUp for Schools option.

1 Like
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got it thanks, this whole situation is very frustrating all around, been using it so long and now met a wall

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Understood. It’s kind of a shame there has to be all this legal stuff in the first place. It is what it is.

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I agree. It is painful to watch this happen form where I am sitting too. I wish there was something we could do but no matter what we try and no matter how may request we make, legal will not make exceptions to their policy on this.

Is there a particular part of our EULA and other documentation that you have an issue with? If so, I may be able to get legal to take a look at clarifying it or offering additional information.

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Yes thank you for that. All we need is Ed-Law 2D document that the district has signed, I know Sketchup is COPPA Compliant just like Tinkercad is from autodesk. I feel that autodesk knows it is a more of a formality and that it needs to be done. I know Trimble is very hard lined stance with this, but the educational space that they are losing out is crazy. Regarding Documentation we just need the Ed-Law 2D document signed on our end.

This was our original email from Sketchup: they said they would sign, very confusing

" Thank you for your interest in SketchUp.

Below are the details on the two types of licenses to help you make a decision on what license or combination of licenses is best for your school.

SketchUp Pro Lab licenses are $30 a seat and meant for school labs where no log in is required. Studio for Universities licenses start at $50 a seat and each student or teacher is given their own login information to access the software on their own computers - these are best for individually owned desktops or laptops. SketchUp Studio is also the only option for accessing Diffusion, Sefaira, VR Viewer, and SketchUp for iPad – SketchUp Pro lab licenses don’t provide access to these features. Minimum seats is 5 seats for SketchUp Pro and 10 seats for SketchUp Studio for Universities - those schools wishing to purchase less than 10 seats of SketchUp Studio may purchase SketchUp Studio for Students or SketchUp Studio for Educators at $55 a seat.

For SketchUp Studio for Universities, there are the following quantity discounts for a one-year license:

10-50 seats: $50 a seat

51-200 seats: $45 a seat

201+ seats: $40 a seat

With the SketchUp Pro for Labs, pricing is $30 a seat for a one-year license no matter how many are purchased

https://shop.creationengine.com/sketchuplab

https://shop.creationengine.com/collections/sketchup-studio-for-universities

https://help.sketchup.com/en/universities/faq

Please contact me regarding which type of license you would like me to quote or if you have any questions.

Yes, we are willing to sign the Ed Law 2-D documents.

Sincerely,

Charles Lai

Creation Engine, Inc.

425 N. Whisman Rd., Ste. 300, Mountain View, CA 94043

Business Hours: Monday-Friday, 9am-4pm PST

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So, you got an email from a company that sells SketchUp licences for educational purposes as wel as other software..
That’s not the same as an email from SketchUp!
How could they legally sign your requested documents on behalf of Trimble SketchUp??

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ok so my director and myself were under the impression that he was a rep from Trimble. Again we received contact from him right away once a sketchup inquiry was made prior. This attempted contact about ed law 2d signage and reach out and email was a dialogue made prior in this school year. Does Trimble have their own Sketchup for Schools rep so at least we could of spoke to the correct person ? I am starting to think my director make incorrect contact. I was telling my director that at my prior district I had used the sketchup for free using a web link for all my sections of CAD. At the same time after 10 years of using Sketchup, I am starting to learn OnShape as an alternative for CAD option for my students to move past Autodesk Tinkercad

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@CaseyG is the person that handles SketchUp for schools questions here on the forum. You already spoke to him a few posts back..

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Yes you are correct what was said by him is their any part of their EULA and other documentation on that he would speak to legal about to match up our district application use. At the end of the day we need signage which is just confirming the application usage within our district. To be honest Autodesk Tinkercad which is also COPPA Compliant signed off on it and OnShape gets it, as they were a little bit taken back but moved forward on the ed 2d law docs that are needed as per almost all schools districts in NY. As a backup plan Onshape is where I am going to get into for the time being.They seem to get it they want their CAD software in schools and beyond. Unfortunately I have to dive myself into Onshape and teach myself it from scratch, but it is what it is. I know at the end of the day Sketchup will be much more inviting for my 7th graders then any other CAD program. I initial have taken to Sketchup back in 2017 because it was vector based program much like Adobe Ilustrator, plus my background prior as a Graphic Designer I had a great deal of Illustrator knowledge and learning Sketchup was an easy fit very quickly. I do wish in the future things change and them knowing that the educational space prefers sketchup to get students into CAD before they might graduation to Revit on the high school level.