Andorra Removes Google App from School iPads After Child Accesses Adult Content

Andorra's Education Ministry is removing the Google App from around 380 school iPads after a first-grade pupil accessed pornographic content via the app on 19 June, despite safeguards on the XENA educational network.

Social Democrat councillor Laia Moliné has welcomed the ministry's actions but questioned whether some steps could have formed part of a prior preventive strategy. In comments to Altaveu, she highlighted the need to strengthen oversight of digital tools in schools, particularly those reliant on third-party providers.

The incident surfaced when a teacher spotted the unauthorised access on a device at a primary school. Staff immediately isolated the iPad, notified the pupil's family and escalated the matter to the Educational Technology Development Area. As a precaution, first-grade iPads were suspended across Andorra's eight primary centres. Technical checks found about 30 devices with Google App versions exhibiting similar issues.

Education Minister Ladislau Baró outlined the response in answers to Moliné's parliamentary questions. Reviews dismissed widespread flaws in XENA filters or SafeSearch. The problem arose from uneven restriction enforcement on specific devices and search terms, linked to recent Google App changes on iPads. Google representatives met officials and recommended sticking to Chrome as the sole school browser, pointing out the app's altered defaults and absence from supervised education bundles.

No data breaches, credential losses or vulnerabilities emerged. The ministry avoids routine student monitoring to safeguard privacy.

Ongoing steps involve purging the Google App from all iPads, revising the approved apps roster—focusing on those enabling web access, searches or media—and enhancing XENA filters with Andorra Telecom. Pilot tests are underway across app variants, alongside an external audit by experts to identify weaknesses.

Devices will stay sidelined until the audit verifies protections and fixes are applied. Moliné noted the government's admission that it cannot precisely determine what each pupil viewed, urging continued supervision upgrades with child protection as the top priority. Officials stressed that safety must not hinge on external vendors whose updates can erode controls, pushing for consistent, state-managed classroom tech with routine app checks.