Schools are using AI surveillance to protect students. Sometimes arresting them
17 days ago
- #privacy concerns
- #AI surveillance
- #student safety
- Schools use AI surveillance to monitor students' online activities for threats, leading to false alarms and arrests.
- A 13-year-old girl in Tennessee was arrested for making an offensive joke online, highlighting the lack of context consideration in AI surveillance.
- Surveillance software like Gaggle and Lightspeed Alert is used in thousands of school districts to track students' online behavior.
- Critics argue that such technology criminalizes children for careless words and increases law enforcement presence in students' lives.
- Tennessee's zero-tolerance law requires immediate reporting of any mass violence threats to law enforcement.
- Students often don't realize their private chats are under constant surveillance, leading to unexpected legal consequences.
- False alarms are common, with many alerts deemed non-issues by school officials, such as homework-related flags.
- AI surveillance has detected genuine threats, but its effectiveness is debated due to high false alarm rates.
- Some students and parents report traumatic experiences from involuntary mental health evaluations and arrests.
- Despite concerns, some educators believe the technology helps prevent suicide and violence, though it raises privacy and ethical issues.