High School Regains OriginalTitle: Alzeyer High School's Name Restored by Google
The Elisabeth-Langgässer-Gymnasium in Alzey recently experienced an unexpected incident where its name was changed on Google Maps to "Luca Kaucher School." The school's director, Armin Rebholz, reported that Google images of the school were also manipulated, mirroring the original font and green colour.
The school management promptly took action, filing a criminal complaint with the police regarding the name change and writing to Google's European headquarters in Dublin. Google responded by stating they would investigate the case, although it may take several weeks to resolve.
In the end, the school's name was restored, and the incorrect images were removed. The school management had to contact Google in Dublin to rectify the issue, as their initial attempts to contact Google in Germany were met with questions about their status as a commercial customer or purchaser of an address.
School director Armin Rebholz has stated that he does not believe Luca Kaucher, a former student of the gymnasium, was involved in the renaming. Luca Kaucher himself has also assured the competent school authority that he was not responsible for the incident.
The ADD (Association of German Education Administrators) recommends that if a similar incident were to occur at a school in the future, schools should contact the pedagogical state institute for support. There is a digital competence center at the pedagogical state institute that can assist schools if needed.
Despite efforts to identify the responsible party, they remain unknown at this time. The school management has changed the name back, and Google Maps now correctly displays the Elisabeth-Langgässer-Gymnasium in Alzey.
- In light of the incident, the Association of German Education Administrators (ADD) advises schools to reach out to the digital competence center at the pedagogical state institute for assistance in education-and-self-development matters related to technology and digital security if a similar occurrence happens in the future.
- Since the Elisabeth-Langgässer-Gymnasium in Alzey was recently victimized by an unknown individual who manipulated their name and images on Google platforms, it underlines the importance of promoting digital education-and-self-development programs in schools to protect them from future cyberattacks and safeguard their online identities.
