Children smile, you are being filmed
Children smile, you are being filmedThe Defender – Oct 24, 2023
Monitoring children at school is a $3,1 billion industry – and it's making kids “anxious” and “scared.”
Technology surveillance companies that sell their products to school administrators are creating a "digital dystopia" for America's schoolchildren, a new report from the American Civil Liberties Union concludes.
Technology surveillance companies that sell their products to school administrators are creating a “digital dystopia” for American schoolchildren, a new report from the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) concludes.
In the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic and rising school shootings, a $3,1 billion education technology (EdTech) project from the surveillance industry has made huge profits by claiming as its digital tools – including video cameras, facial recognition software, artificial intelligence (AI)-based behavior detection systems, social and online media monitoring, and much more, help prevent bullying, self-harm and violence at school.
However, the industry has not supported this claim with evidence and has instead used fear mongering as its primary marketing tactic, according to the ACLU report.
The ACLU, after conducting its own research and reviewing other studies commissioned by the U.S. Department of Justice, found a “lack of clear evidence” that products advertised by EdTech companies ensure student safety.
Chad Marlow, the report's lead author, said that as a parent of two K-XNUMX students, he understands the concerns of parents and school officials about children's safety.
Mr. Marlow told the Defender that he regrets school administrators and state legislatures using funds for surveillance technology “to keep our children safe.”
“These decisions haunt me,” he said, “because as a senior policy advisor to the ACLU specializing in privacy, surveillance and technology issues, I know firsthand that surveillance does not deter bad behavior and that it certainly does not protect our students”.
Mr Marlow said the 61-page report reveals a “surveillance nightmare” that “unintentionally harms our children” by denying them access to important information, undermining their trust in adults and making it “too risky ” communicating some of their thoughts.
“This is the exact opposite of the lesson we should be teaching our students,” he said.
