What We’re Watching

Gaggle, Student Surveillance and School Privacy

NJ21st is tracking the Berkeley Heights BOE’s approval of Gaggle, the broader debate over student activity monitoring and the questions students and parents should be asking about school-device surveillance, vendor access, false flags, privacy and proven alternatives.

Core issue: Student safety matters. But safety systems that monitor school accounts and school devices raise serious questions about privacy, speech, outside vendor review, data retention and whether the promised benefits are backed by independent evidence.

NJ21st Coverage

NJ21st coverage on AI-based student monitoring and proven alternatives
Analysis

Rethinking Student Safety: The Evidence on AI-Based Monitoring and the Case for Proven Alternatives

A closer look at AI-based student monitoring, the concerns raised by researchers and advocates and why districts should weigh less invasive, evidence-based alternatives.

Read the Article
NJ21st guide on lawful student and parent protest against school surveillance
Student and Parent Guide

How Students and Parents Can Lawfully Protest and Fight Back Against Invasive School Surveillance

A practical guide for students and parents who want to push back lawfully, protect private speech and ask the district for transparency.

Read the Guide

Additional Information and Source Material

Gaggle Homepage and Product Description Company source
Gaggle Service Level Agreement Company source
RAND: Artificial Intelligence-Based Student Activity Monitoring for Suicide Risk Research report
Center for Democracy & Technology: Hidden Harms Research report
Warren and Markey Investigation on EdTech Student Surveillance Congressional investigation
ACLU: Digital Dystopia Civil liberties report
The 74: Gaggle Surveils Millions of Kids in the Name of Safety News report
The 74: An Inside Look at the Spy Tech That Followed Kids Home News report
Associated Press: Schools Use AI to Monitor Kids, Hoping to Prevent Violence Investigative report
Associated Press: Takeaways from AI-Powered School Surveillance Investigation Investigation takeaways
Stanford Law Review: The Surveilled Student Legal scholarship
Have an experience with school surveillance? Students, parents and staff can share concerns, false flags, policy questions or records related to school monitoring systems with NJ21st.

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