Study Finds That School-Based Online Surveillance Companies Monitor Students 24/7

Comments

• DeathByBigSad@sh.itjust.works ⁨1⁩ ⁨week⁩ ago

  1. Kids post publicly on social media under their own name.

  2. School find out what they said publicly.

  3. SurprisedPikachuFace.jpg

  Not blaming the victims, but like… parents really need to be teaching kids what social media is.

  I’m glad I was a socially awkward kid that was too shy to post things publicly.

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  • jubilationtcornpone@sh.itjust.works ⁨1⁩ ⁨week⁩ ago

    Some of us do teach our kids and they just don’t care, I guess. My oldest (17) has had a smartphone for a few years. She knowa what not to do on social media. Does it anyway. That pretty well tracks with the rest of her (mostly) poor decisions. What can I say? She’s …Consistent. 🤷‍♂️

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    • FenrirIII@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨week⁩ ago

      I’m keeping my kiddos phones locked down until they start paying their own bills.

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  • Quibblekrust@thelemmy.club ⁨1⁩ ⁨week⁩ ago

    I’m sorry, but it doesn’t sound like you read the article.

    Some salient quotes:

    Companies cited a variety of ways they gain access to student digital activity, including browser plug-ins, API integrations and device software.

    Many companies collect and flag sensitive data, including students’ private messages and search histories.

    So, they work with shady spyware companies to collect private student data, retain it, and then try to sell it to schools.

    I, for one, am fucking shocked!

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• kalkulat@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨week⁩ ago

  Wow, where do I start with this?

  Those aren’t ‘services’, those are personal privacy intrusions. For PROFIT. There is no way this could happen without the school’s cooperation. They ought not only to know it, but also know exactly what data is gathered, every place it is sent to, what privacy protections are in place, and what is done with it once it’s “evaluated”,

  “student communications monitoring” 24-7 and/or outside of school is SPYING. There is NO legal OR educational OR ethical mandate for this collecting.

  If the kids don’t know about unknown adults prying into their personal lives, AND KEEPING RECORDS ABOUT IT, that’s not necessarily their fault. If the parents don’t know about it, that’s the school’s fault for not getting their knowing permission.

  If I was the parent of one of those students and wasn’t told about it, I’d sue that school into a coma.

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• A_norny_mousse@feddit.org ⁨1⁩ ⁨week⁩ ago

  It might seem like a foregone conclusion to some, but really it isn’t. I guess these companies have the same type of TOS that nobody reads, the schools just sign them, and there’s no regulations holding either party back.

  Schools pay for the services directly or may request federal grant funding to cover the costs.

  Originally intended to support students’ mental health and prevent adverse school events, such as school shootings, the study found that school-based online surveillance companies are extensively monitoring students’ digital behavior, both during and outside of school hours, often using artificial intelligence (AI) with little human oversight or transparency.

  The research team identified 14 companies actively marketing online surveillance services frequently beyond school-issued devices and outside of school premises, raising concerns about privacy, equity and oversight

  86% of companies monitor students 24 hours per day and 7 days per week, not just during school hours.

  It’s like using a fishy mental health app that sells All Your Data to the highest bidder. Except with minors who didn’t even make the decision to install that app themselves.

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  • WhyJiffie@sh.itjust.works ⁨1⁩ ⁨week⁩ ago

    Except with minors who didn’t even make the decision to install that app themselves.

    and who cannot refuse to have it installed on devices they are required to use

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• LordCrom@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨week⁩ ago

  Monitor students digital behavior?

  Just don’t use accounts the school knows about…how hard is that? Don’t use the shitty equipment they give you because it’s loaded with spyware, haw hard is that.

  Maybe students need to stop using tech and start learning how it works like we did

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  • mic_check_one_two@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨1⁩ ⁨week⁩ ago

    Just don’t use accounts the school knows about…how hard is that? Don’t use the shitty equipment they give you because it’s loaded with spyware, haw hard is that.

    From the article (emphasis mine):

    The research team identified 14 companies actively marketing online surveillance services frequently beyond school-issued devices and outside of school premises, raising concerns about privacy, equity and oversight

    Sounds like they’re using heavier tracking than simple device tracking. Probably lots of fingerprinting, which can be extremely hard to avoid; If any of your accounts even touch the same network as the school device, they likely track it.

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  • ayyy@sh.itjust.works ⁨1⁩ ⁨week⁩ ago

    Kids should just stop being poor! Stupid kids.

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  • A_norny_mousse@feddit.org ⁨1⁩ ⁨week⁩ ago

    What the fuck weird person?

    How long did it take you to get to grips with tech? And you did not use it before then?

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    • AnUnusualRelic@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨week⁩ ago

      In truth, it didn’t exist before then. But stop changing the subject.

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• ChuckUFarley@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨week⁩ ago

  It’s just like a work computer. Keep you work and personal life absolutely separate.

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  • dual_sport_dork@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨week⁩ ago

    Sure, until they start spying on you in real time through your school issue comptuer’s webcam. (Or listening via its microphones, or snooping your wi-fi traffic with preinstalled malware, or…)

    Anyway, the asshats even try to snoop on students’ social media activity outside of school and not done on school hardware.

    From TFA:

    The research team identified 14 companies actively marketing online surveillance services frequently beyond school-issued devices and outside of school premises, raising concerns about privacy, equity and oversight.

    Emphasis mine.

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    • ChuckUFarley@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨week⁩ ago

      I’m confused, how can this be done? Power off non-personal devices at the end of the day and no snooping

      How is private social media available to the companies?

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    • dreadbeef@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨1⁩ ⁨week⁩ ago

      I put my work laptop on my guest network for this reason

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• misteloct@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨1⁩ ⁨week⁩ ago

  “But think of the children!” 😂😂😂

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• vacuumflower@lemmy.sdf.org ⁨1⁩ ⁨week⁩ ago

  No way. Someone is looking into an open window. Wow.

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