Andorra Pulls iPads from Primary Schools After Kids Access Porn via Google Flaw

The Andorran Ministry of Education has withdrawn all iPads from primary classrooms in the Andorran School system after pupils at the Santa Coloma Andorran primary school accessed sexual content via a Google app flaw during group work.

The incident occurred a few days before Sant Joan in a third-cycle primary class, involving pupils aged 10 to 12 using one of the five iPads per classroom. A teacher noticed two or three pupils viewing inappropriate images on Google Images—initially blurred—after bypassing SafeSearch filters for image searches. General web searches, videos, and the school's XENA network protections remained effective. The teacher alerted management, which notified the Andorran School directorate and ministry, prompting immediate withdrawal.

Ministry spokesperson Guillem Casal addressed the matter at Wednesday's government briefing, attributing it to unannounced Google changes in firewall procedures or security policies. He expressed concern and confirmed reinforced configuration locks on remaining school computers to maintain restricted browsing.

On Thursday, Education Minister Ladislau Baró described the access as "inacceptable" in a school environment, vowing to protect the system's credibility. He emphasized determination to prevent repeats, acknowledging technology's challenges, and stated: "Before any doubt, we'll go back to paper and pencil rather than technology." Director of Higher Education, Research and Innovation Xavier Campuzano clarified the issue affected one device and one pupil on a specific iPad generation, with 30 to 35 of roughly 150 primary devices potentially vulnerable. He detailed virtual meetings with Google already completed, a face-to-face session scheduled for the following Wednesday in Barcelona, and collaboration with Andorra Telecom to strengthen multi-layer filters, including SafeSearch, content filters, and network-level protections. iPads will remain sidelined until September—or indefinitely if full security cannot be assured—potentially accelerating a shift to alternatives, separate from secondary school Chromebook transitions.

A Tuesday letter to Santa Coloma families explained the withdrawal "until further notice," confirmed school filters' proper function, and outlined technical remediation with Google. No additional cases emerged post-removal, underscoring swift action prioritizing child safety.

Social Democratic councillor Laia Moliné has submitted written questions to the government, probing the technical cause, incident scope, affected devices and centres, filtering systems, monitoring protocols, prior security audits, independent school network filters, pre-deployment testing, data protection notifications, and penetration tests. She stressed that classroom digitalisation requires maximum security standards, proactive measures, and prevention for minors beyond reactive steps.