Schools Spy on Kids to Prevent Shootings, But There's No Evidence It Works
Spyware like GoGuardian, Bark, and Gaggle are monitoring students’ internet habits, both on and off school grounds.
It was another sleepy board of education meeting in Woodbridge, N.J. The board gave out student commendations and presented budget requests. Parents complained about mold in classrooms. Then, a pair of high schoolers stepped up to the podium with a concern that took the district officials completely off guard.
“We have students so concerned about their privacy that they’re resorting to covering their [laptop] cameras and microphones with tape,” a junior said at the October 18, 2018 meeting.
Woodbridge had recently joined hundreds of other school districts across the country in subscribing to GoGuardian, one of a growing number of school-focused surveillance companies. Promising to promote school safety and stop mass shootings, these companies sell tools that give administrators, teachers, and in some cases parents, the ability to snoop on every action students take on school-issued devices.
The Woodbridge students were not pleased.
“We just want to ask again: How are you going to assure our right to privacy when we have been having these problems and we have so many fears CONTINUE READING: Schools Spy on Kids to Prevent Shootings, But There's No Evidence It Works - VICE
Parent Coalition for Student Privacy - https://www.studentprivacymatters.org/
