Service Alerts

Google has started displaying a one-time notice that your Ryerson account now “works more like a full Google account.” Google is displaying this notice now because of a change in how the Google Play store has been configured by Google. The announcement does not change Ryerson’s agreement with Google or change who can access your email, calendar or Google Drive. Pressing the “Agree” button does not mean you are consenting to any new access of your account by anyone at Ryerson or at Google.

Ryerson’s agreement with Google only covers Ryerson’s use of what Google calls its “core” applications. The core applications includes Gmail, Google Calendar, and Google Drive. Ryerson disabled access to all non-core apps from the beginning of our use of Google Apps for Education. However, Google did not provide Ryerson with a way to disable the Google Play Store even though it was not a core application. Recently Google made it possible for Ryerson to disable the Play Store but we chose to leave it available to avoid the problems disabling it might create. As a result this notice is appearing because access to the Play Store presumably means your account “works more like a full Google account” rather than as an account that can only access core applications. In other words you now have access to a non-core service.

When the notice appeared we opened a support ticket and asked Google if disabling the Play Store would mean that the notice will no longer appear. Their response was no.

While this is a frustrating situation – as the notice is only really relevant for people who use their Ryerson account to access the Play Store – we recommend that you press “Accept” in order to get rid of the notice. Google has said the notice will not appear again after you press “Accept.” Pressing the accept button only means that you have seen the message and does not mean you are consenting to any new terms and conditions regarding the use of Google’s core applications.

Finally, the notice includes this text: “your domain administrator will have access to your account information, including any data you store with this account in Google services.” The domain administrators are CCS system administrators who administer Ryerson’s use of Google Apps for Education. They work in much the same way as all system administrators in CCS that manage systems like D2L, RMail, and the my.ryerson.ca portal. Their use of the system is monitored and they do not use their system administration privileges to access any data you store on any of our systems unless authorized to do so in exceptional circumstances – for example if Ryerson is served with a search warrant that has been validated by Ryerson’s General Counsel.

More information about privacy and Ryerson’s use of Google Apps for Education is available at:

http://email.blog.ryerson.ca/

More information about how to use Google Apps for Education at Ryerson is available at:

http://ryerson.ca/google