John,

As a parent, I’m terrified about facial recognition and how it’s quietly invading our schools.¹

As our kids are heading back to school—some in person and some online—we shouldn’t have to worry about whether or not their faces are being scanned, analyzed, and their biometric data stored in a database that could be hacked by someone who wants to hurt kids.

If you’re a parent or a caregiver, and agree that we don’t need invasive surveillance systems tracking our kids’ every move, sign the open letter of parents against facial recognition.

SIGN THE LETTER

Putting our kids under constant surveillance is an unethical experiment, and we have no idea what the long term psychological effects are or how it could hurt their ability to learn, thrive, and be themselves.

But we do know that this technology isn’t safe.² It’s biased, and more likely to misidentify students of color, which means these students are more likely to face disciplinary action and feed into the school-to-prison pipeline.^3,4 It’s invasive, and enables anyone with access to the system to watch our kids’ movements, analyze their facial expressions, monitor who they talk to, and even track how many times they go to the bathroom. And it’s a target for those wishing to harm our children, which could put them in physical danger or at risk of having their biometric information stolen.

The risks of implementing this technology have only grown during COVID-19, as facial recognition companies are pitching their tech as a tool for stopping the spread of the virus (a claim which holds no logic) and are developing facial recognition tools to use with online learning.

We need to unite as parents to keep facial recognition from invading our schools now, to keep our kids safe.

The good news is that momentum is on our side. Earlier this year Congress introduced a bill that would ban government and law enforcement use of facial recognition, and states are also taking action, with New York recently passing a moratorium on facial recognition use in schools.^5,6 We can use this energy to get our schools, states, and federal government to pass policy to keep this dangerous tech out of our schools.

But we must move quickly because tech companies are pushing to get schools and lawmakers to take their side and implement their tools instead of thinking about what’s best for our kids.

Please take a moment to sign this open letter from parents against facial recognition.

Together for the future,

Caitlin at Fight for the Future

P.S. Even if you aren't a parent, if you care about this issue and want to keep facial recognition out of schools, please sign the letter.

Footnotes:

1. Wired: https://www.wired.com/story/delicate-ethics-facial-recognition-schools/

2. Cnet: https://www.cnet.com/features/facial-recognition-in-schools-even-supporters-say-it-wont-stop-shootings/

3. NYCLU: https://www.nyclu.org/en/legislation/legislative-memo-biometric-identifying-technology-schools#_ftn4

4. Truth Out: https://truthout.org/articles/high-tech-school-surveillance-is-harming-students-of-color/

5. NBC News: https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/security/2-democratic-senators-propose-ban-use-facial-recognition-federal-law-n1232128

6. Tech Crunch: https://techcrunch.com/2020/07/23/new-york-facial-recognition-moratorium/

Fight for the Future works to protect your rights in the digital age.