Thousands of American schools turn to AI propelled Surveillance technology for 24/7 monitoring of students and devices issued by schools such as laptops and tablets.
The objective is to protect children, especially in the midst of a mental health crisis And the threat of school shots. Automatic learning algorithms detect potential problems of problems such as intimidation, self -control or suicide, then alert school officials.
But these tools raise serious questions about confidentiality and security. In fact, when the Seattle Times and the Associated Press have joined forces to investigate school surveillance, journalists inadvertently had access to nearly 3,500 documents of sensitive students who are not expelled through a request for files. The documents were stored without password or firewall, and anyone having the link could read them.
Here are the main points to remember from investigation.
Surveillance technology like Gaggle is not always secure
The risks of confidentiality and security have become obvious when Seattle Times and journalists AP submitted a request for public files to the public schools from Vancouver to Washington, by looking for information on the type of content reported by the herd of the monitoring tool. Used by around 1,500 districts, Gaggle is one of the many different companies offering surveillance services, including Gotguardian and security.
Gaggle has recorded digital activity screenshots that trigger each alert. School officials accidentally provided journalists with links to them, without realizing that they were not protected by a password. Students of these documents have proven on the most intimate aspects of their personal life, including suicide attempts.
After learning the recordings published inadvertently to journalists, Gaggle has updated its system. Now, after 72 hours, only those connected to a Gaggle account can display screenshots. Gaggle said that this feature was already underway but has not yet been deployed to each client.
The company claims that links must be accessible without connection during these 72 hours so that the school’s emergency contacts – which often receive these alerts late at night on their phones – can react quickly.
There is no independent research showing that surveillance technology increases safety
The long -term effects of safety surveillance technology are not clear. No independent study has shown that it measures the suicide rates of students measurably or reduces violence. A rand report in 2023 found only “little evidence” of the advantages or risks of monitoring artificial intelligence.
“If you do not have the good number of mental health advisers, the publication of more alerts will not really improve suicide prevention,” said the co-author of the Benjamin Boudreaux report, AI ethical researcher.
Experts warn that privacy of expressing feelings is important for the healthy development of the child. But supporters of digital surveillance emphasize that school computers are not the appropriate framework for this type of unlimited self-exploration.
LGBTQ + students are particularly vulnerable
The surveillance software presents unique risks for LGBTQ +students, warn the defenders. In the files published by Vancouver schools, at least six students were potentially deposited to school officials after writing to be gay, transgender or in the grip with gender dysphoria.
When Durham in Northern Durham public schools piloted Gaggle, an LGBTQ + lawyer reported that a herd alert has led a student to be out of his family. Another student expressed his concerns about loss of confidence with teachers. The advice voted to stop using technology, noting that it was not worth the risk of eroding relationships with adults.
Often parents do not know that their children are watched
The parents interviewed for this article said that their child’s school had not revealed that he had used surveillance software or buried disclosure in the forms of use of long technology. Even when families are aware of surveillance, schools can refuse to let them withdraw.
“Imagine growing up in a world where everything you said on a computer is monitored by the government,” said Tim Reiland, who has put pressure on the school district of his children in Owasso, in Oklahoma, to let her children withdraw from Gaggle. “And you just have to accept it and move on. What kind of adults do we create? »»
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