Cyberbullying, violence, and other online threats have prompted an increase in the use of technology in schools, particularly surveillance equipment. But anyone who has spent time on a modern school campus knows that students also have to keep an eye on their internet activity. Schools frequently use surveillance technology that could be seen as going beyond reasonable precaution and outright violating privacy.

Some schools, according to Wired, use surveillance software that keeps tabs on what websites children visit. The software also scans student emails. Occasionally, this program will notify the authorities of potential dangers. And it's not just middle schoolers and seniors under constant watch. According to a recent report by the Dallas Morning News, universities have been deploying a social media surveillance program that employs artificial intelligence to keep tabs on student demonstrators.

The government of the United States has learned about this problem. If digital monitoring techniques are likely to infringe on students' rights, the White House recently recommended schools refrain from continuous surveillance. Based on reports from Yahoo, the official stance of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy is that AI-based tools in education and beyond should be safe and valuable, not discriminatory, provide adequate privacy safeguards, be transparent about their operations, and give users a chance to have their decisions reviewed by a human.

More sensitive things than last week's arithmetic exam results could be compromised by the spying technologies utilized in schools. When a kid uses a family computer to access the school's Wi-Fi network, anyone with access to that computer can see the student's personal information, whether it's medical records, financial data, or anything else.

What an institution of higher education must reveal about its data privacy methods and monitoring is highly uncertain under the law. Remember that the massive tech companies creating the school monitoring technologies may also have access to your information. Companies like these may use the information for research and development purposes, but they may also sell it to marketers for online advertising targeting purposes.

According to Casey Oppenheim, CEO of Disconnect, speaking to Gizmodo, "all this data collection aims to influence your behavior, whether it's enticing you to buy a product, promoting obsessive behavior, or even pushing an ideology." "There's something incredibly evil about that when you put it in the context of children.

Protecting pupils may sound like a good idea in theory, but there is scant evidence that surveillance helps in practice. The use of surveillance technology in schools has been linked to many incidents of actual harm. Students' sexual orientations have been made public by monitoring software without their knowledge or permission. In addition, students from disadvantaged socioeconomic origins, students of color, and students of Hispanic origin are disproportionately targeted for monitoring and disciplinary action.

Some form of monitoring is mandated by law. The Children's Internet Protection Act of 2020 states that all U.S. schools must implement web filtering to protect pupils from exposure to inappropriate online content.

However, schools can implement cutting-edge systems like Gaggle, which monitors student email and reports any suspicious activity to authorities. Several schools pay Gaggle thousands of dollars annually to keep tabs on their students' online activities and communications. Emails sent by students (and occasionally staff) are checked in real-time, and if anything suspicious is detected, the system immediately blocks the sender and receiver from receiving the message. After a message has been banned, the accompanying files and paperwork are evaluated at a later time.

Fortunately, there are measures you may take to prevent school IT departments from snooping on you and your loved ones.

Regarding safeguarding users' personal information online, apps serve as the first line of defense. Thankfully, several apps ensure the privacy of kids' data and communications. DuckDuckGo is a search engine and mobile software that helps users avoid being tracked by secret services on public and private networks.

From the folks at Disconnect, the Do Not Track Kids app eliminates trackers across the board and teaches kids about privacy.

Technology like computers and tablets provided by schools can be helpful learning aids, but they also leave a digital footprint. While some school-related tasks necessitate using a school-issued device, students should exercise extreme caution when conducting non-school-related internet searches. Surveillance software may send a red flag if you visit a suspicious website or read a message board where someone has posted a threatening message.

Reports have shown that certain institutions use paid social media monitoring firms to keep tabs on their students' internet activities. Even if the school's goal is to prevent acts of violence and other harmful speech, it might be challenging to predict what specific language or behavior would prompt a response. Make sure that discussions about your school stay within your private chats, and steer clear of any online arguments that could become heated because of your school.

Knowing that many pupils forced by law to attend school are likewise subjected to mandated surveillance for dubious reasons is disturbing. The battle for privacy will continue as technology makes monitoring our whereabouts, communications, and behaviors easier. As the scope of school monitoring technology expands, it becomes increasingly important to take precautions to safeguard your loved ones' personal information.

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