This as-told-to essay is based on a transcribed conversation with Irina Stanescu, a former Google software engineer based in California. The following has been edited for length and clarity.

Google is accused of violating federal wiretapping law and California privacy law, and the plaintiffs are seeking unspecified damages and court actions related to Google’s student-data collection.

North Carolina public schools use Google products and have issued more than 1 million Google Chromebooks to students, most of which students can take home, according to state Department of Public ...