We are about to pilot Google Apps for Education with several Grade Levels of Students in our Middle and Primary Schools. This will effectively provide students under the age of 13 with email addresses. It has been suggested to me that I need to inform the parents and/or get written consent from the parents for two things:

1.       I need to inform parents that their child’s data is being held outside of the organisation (data protection?)

2.       I need a parents permission to provide their child (under 13) with an email account (COPPA?)

I’ve discovered lots of discussion (read disagreement!) about these topics in forums – but have found nothing definitive.

Do I need to inform the parents or seek their permission?