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NEWS BULLETIN  

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Members of Congress Release New Report on Risks of Student Activity Monitoring Software

In New Report, Members of Congress Call for Equity and Privacy Safeguards to Protect Students from Surveillance Risks

K-12 schools across the U.S. increasingly track students’ online behavior through the use of student activity monitoring software. CDT’s research ([link removed]) found that 81% of surveyed K-12 teachers report that their school uses some kind of monitoring software, and nearly half as many indicate that it is used to enforce disciplinary policy.

United States Senators Elizabeth Warren and Edward Markey published a new report ([link removed]) analyzing these concerns and proposing policy solutions regarding the use of student activity monitoring software. The report evaluates letters submitted by four leading vendors of student activity monitoring software in response to an investigation launched last fall. The findings about student activity monitoring include:

This software is being misused, leading to disciplinary actions and increased contact with law enforcement.

The companies do not know if their software disproportionately targets students from marginalized groups, leaving schools in the dark.

School communities are not informed of the use — and potential misuse — of the data.

Regulatory and legal gaps exacerbate the risks of this software.

To take action, the report recommends, “The federal government should seek methods to track the potential impacts of student surveillance technology on students in protected classes, clarify the definition of ‘monitoring the online activities’ as mentioned in the Children's Internet Protection Act (CIPA), and work to ensure that products used by schools maintain student safety and privacy.” CDT supports these recommendations and previously led a coalition of education and civil rights advocates in calling for Congress to clarify CIPA ([link removed]). CDT has also called for similar actions in comments to the FCC ([link removed]) and U.S. Department of Education ([link removed]).

CDT continues to evaluate the privacy and equity impacts of monitoring software, such as in its recent brief on technology’s impact ([link removed]) on the risks of disproportionate discipline faced by students with disabilities. Visit CDT’s Equity in Civic Technology Project ([link removed]) to learn more about our work supporting the responsible use of civic technology and data.

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