Students Worry School Surveillance Could Identify Abortion Searches, ACLU Says

Priya Anand
Tue, 3 October 2023 



(Bloomberg) -- About one in five students are worried that surveillance technology used by their schools could flag searches for reproductive health care or gender-affirming care from their computers, according to a report published by the American Civil Liberties Union Tuesday.

Startups that sell technology to help schools monitor what students do online saw a boom in business during the pandemic, thanks to remote learning. But the tools also have costs, the ACLU said. The group found that 21% of students said they were worried the technology could identify individuals searching for abortion resources, and 18% said they held those concerns regarding searches related to gender-affirming care, according to a YouGov survey of about 500 students ages 14 to 18 that the ACLU commissioned.

Last year, Democratic Senators Elizabeth Warren and Ed Markey asked four of the largest companies that provide tools to monitor students’ online activity — GoGuardian, Gaggle.Net Inc., Bark Technologies Inc. and Securly Inc. — to take steps to ensure their technology couldn’t be used to flag students for searching for reproductive resources after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. The senators have also raised concerns that school surveillance tools could be used to unfairly target minorities.

“The products being sold by the ed-tech surveillance industry lack any independent, verifiable evidence that they actually work and actually help kids keep safe,” said Chad Marlow, senior policy counsel at the ACLU. “Fear of harm creates actual harm.”

Education technology companies have said that their tools can help schools keep students safe by alerting administrators about the possibility of self-harm or risks to other students.

 Bloomberg Businessweek