Privacy, Security & Equity
Student Device Monitoring a Threat to LGBTQI+ Students, Student Expression —Report
Student device monitoring disproportionately affects kids who
cannot afford their own devices and, according to a new report, poses
threats to student privacy (such as LGBTQI+ students who might be
"outed") and creates a significant chilling effect on
student expression.
According to information from a pair of new reports released today
from the Center for
Democracy & Technology, 81% of teachers reported the use of
online monitoring software that can track students during and outside
of school hours/activities. Further, some "71% of teachers
report the use of monitoring software on school-issued devices, only
16% of teachers report its use on privately owned personal devices,
suggesting that students in higher-poverty districts are subjected to
more monitoring than those in wealthier districts as many do not have
their own personal devices."
The use of monitoring software is having an effect, according to
one report, Student
Activity Monitoring Software: Research Insights and Recommendations.
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A majority of parents (61%) and teachers (57%) said they
"could bring long-term harm to students if it is used to
discipline them or is shared and used out of context."
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A majority of students (60%) said they do not share their
true thoughts/ideas online "because they know they are being
monitored."
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A majority of parents (51%) and a large minority of teachers
(47%) said online monitoring tools could have unintended
consequences like "outing" LGBTQI+ students.
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A large minority of parents (49%) and teachers (40%) said
online activity monitoring violates students' privacy rights.
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Nevertheless, a majority of parents (62%) and teachers (66%)
said the benefit of online monitoring outweigh the privacy concerns.
According to one of the reports: "While a potential goal of
student activity monitoring software is to prohibit access to obscene
materials, these findings raise questions about whether tracking
students may cause them to hesitate before accessing important
resources (related to mental health, for instance)."
In the other report, Online
and Observed: Student Privacy Implications of School-Issued Devices
and Student Activity Monitoring Software, researchers found that
one of the key driving factors for the use of online monitoring
software was "to satisfy perceived legal and funding
requirements. A common belief among district participants was that
student activity monitoring software was required for compliance with
the Children’s Internet Protection Act (CIPA) and the Family
Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), and for accessing funding
through the E-Rate program. LEAs were explicit, saying, 'our approach
was [that] we needed a lot of granular control so that we would
comply with CIPA.'"
As a result of the findings, a number of organizations, including
the State Educational Technology Directors Association (SETDA), as
well as civil rights organizations, including the Hispanic Technology
& Telecommunications Partnership, InnovateEDU, the Center for
Learner Equity, Getting Smart, the American Civil Liberties Union and
the Center for Democracy & Technology signed
a letter urging Congress "to protect student privacy,
expression, and safety by updating the Children’s Internet
Protection Act (CIPA or the Act) to clarify that CIPA does not
require broad, invasive, and constant surveillance of students’
lives online, or by asking the Federal Communications Commission
(FCC) to clarify the Act."
Both reports, Student
Activity Monitoring Software: Research Insights and Recommendations
and Online
and Observed: Student Privacy Implications of School-Issued Devices
and Student Activity Monitoring Software and the letter
to Congress are freely accessible online.