We are a growing network of practitioners working to protect students’ civil rights and liberties at school.
Learn about our campaign to prevent the use of invasive, predatory, and biased biometric surveillance technology in schools.
Banning Biometric Surveillance Technology
The epidemic of school violence has created a predatory industry of security consultants pushing expensive, unproven, and biased biometric surveillance technologies on school boards.
Biometric surveillance technology (e.g., facial recognition) is a threat to students’ civil rights and liberties. Protected student data is being divulged to third parties in violation of federal and state law. These technologies also make students less safe. They are biased against people of color, increasing the risk that vulnerable students will be mistakenly diverted into the school-to-prison pipeline. It also increases the likelihood of armed responses by police officers, putting students at risk of harm.
Education administrators, who are often not qualified to evaluate these technologies, are being taken advantage of by “security” experts. Federal and state funding intended to improve educational outcomes is being diverted to finance facial recognition and other biometric surveillance technology despite being ineffective.
New York State was the first to enact a ban on certain biometric surveillance technologies in schools. We aim to expand these protections to students nationwide.
Stefanie Coyle is a leading expert on civil rights and liberties in schools
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