Have a Good Life

Today we take a look at the issue of surveillance of students in and by schools
- Three areas of surveillance
- In school
- Physical and network surveillance
- Online
- Surveillance of social media activity
- At home
- Surveillance through school-issued equipment
- What information is being collected and what is being done with it?
- Center for Democracy and Technology study:
- 86% of teachers reported that schools provided equipment to students, twice the pre-pandemic rate
- 80% of teachers and 77% of students said that the schools used surveillance software
- The more the devices were used, the more surveillance occurred
- Disparate economic impact
- Economically disadvantaged students more likely to need school provided equipment and thus be subject to more constant and intrusive surveillance
- Varying degrees of transparency
- Justifications
- Are students paying attention?
- Some systems allow teachers to view all the tabs opened by students
- Are students accessing inappropriate content, either during class or outside of it?
- Are students misbehaving (cyberbullying, etc.)?
- Are students showing signs of mental illness or self-harm (depress, suicidal ideation, etc.)?
- The pandemic has had a measurable impact on the mental health of children
- Protection of school equipment
- The Technology
- Different installation protocols
- Standalone software
- Browser extensions
- Raises specter of monitoring of private devices if browser is set to sync extensions
- Real-time monitoring of web activity, emails, etc. by AI or human moderators
- A growing number of software platforms
- Bark
- Gnosis IQ
- Gaggle
- GoGuardian
- Lightspeed
- Securly Classroom
- Real-time access of web cams
- Online classes
- Private time
- Educators Misconduct
- Lurking or snooping on social media accounts
- Web cam voyeurism
- Implications
- Training students to view surveillance by employers and governments as “normal”
- Legal Issues
- Invasion of Privacy and Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress
- Federal and state wiretapping laws
- Child Online Privacy Protection Act
- Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act
- Resources
- #2021–10–11 US schools gave kids laptops during the pandemic. Then they spied on them
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/oct/11/us-students-digital-surveillance-schools
- #2021–10–07 Borrowed a School Laptop? Mind Your Open Tabs
https://www.wired.com/story/borrowed-school-laptop-mind-open-tabs/
- #2021–10–04 Democratic Lawmakers Demand Student Surveillance Companies Outline Business Practices, Warn the Security Tools May Compound ‘Risk of Harm for Students’
https://www.the74million.org/article/democratic-lawmakers-demand-student-surveillance-companies-outline-business-practices-warn-the-security-tools-may-compound-risk-of-harm-for-students/
- #2021–09–22 New Research Probes Surveillance of Students’ Online Activities
https://www.govtech.com/security/new-research-probes-surveillance-of-students-online-activities
- #2021–04–02 Teachers Are Watching Students’ Screens During Remote Learning. Is That Invasion of Privacy?
https://www.edweek.org/technology/are-remote-classroom-management-tools-that-let-teachers-see-students-computer-screens-intrusive/2021/04
- #2019–12–05 Is Your School Spying on Your Child via Webcams?
https://www.publicschoolreview.com/blog/is-your-school-spying-on-your-child-via-webcams
- #2019–12–04 How To Know If Your School-Issued Laptop Has Spyware Installed
https://helpdeskgeek.com/how-to/how-to-know-if-your-school-issued-laptop-has-spyware-installed/
- #2010–10–21 $610K Settlement in School Webcam Spy Case
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/610k-settlement-in-school-webcam-spy-case/

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