What Does the Google Play Store Tell Us About Information Privacy? An Examination of EdTech Apps

App platforms facilitate app discovery and enforce security, privacy, and content standards. However, do they provide consumers with reliable information on app privacy to guide adoption decisions? This research examines the Google Play Store’s privacy disclosures against the actual data-sharing practices of 100 widely used K-12 education apps in the U.S. These apps were selected by scraping the SDPC registry, and network traffic testing was conducted to analyze their data-sharing behavior. A pilot study revealed that 82% of these apps shared data with marketing and behavioral advertising companies, potentially violating U.S. COPPA regulations. Alarmingly, no accurate warnings or disclosures were provided by the app platform. This suggests that educators and consumers must make adoption decisions without valid privacy information, raising concerns about transparency and student data protection in educational technology.