In this anxious era of bullying, teen depression, and school shootings, tech companies are selling software to schools and parents that make big promises about keeping kids secure by monitoring what they say and write online. But these apps demand disturbing trade-offs in the name of safety. In this episode, we dive into the normative, privacy, and transparency implications of this software for both schools and families, and examine how the rush to fix societal problems with technology can amplify harm to young people while enriching companies that stand to profit from increased surveillance.

Show Notes

Gennie Gebhart's bio | Twitter - 00:38

The EFF's 2017 report on student privacy (PDF) - 1:12

"Facial Recognition Tech Comes to Schools and Summer Camps" (Wall Street Journal) - 1:32

"Heal the Internet," our episode on removing tracking pixels from emails - 2:06

"Big Brother at the Office," our episode on workplace surveillance - 2:10

Previous episodes on Big Tech include "100% Facebook-Free," "The Google Ads Shakedown," and "Nevermore, Amazon" - 3:19

"Breaking the Black Box," our episode about algorithmic bias - 3:24

Caroline Haskins on Twitter | her stories for Vice | her stories for BuzzFeed News - 3:51

BuzzFeed News' series on schools and surveillance - 4:04

"Gaggle Knows Everything About Teens And Kids In School" (BuzzFeed News) - 4:06

Gaggle - 4:08

Bark - 7:05

This Vice article takes a closer look at Bark's self-reported safety statistics in North and South Carolina - 7:29

ManagedMethods - 8:31

Bark's FAQs about its Parent Portal - 8:57

Ryan Stanley's op-ed for the Juneau Empire - 10:14

"School computer monitoring program makes botched debut" (Juneau Empire) - 11:10

"Schools make adjustments to Bark" (KINY in Juneau) - 11:15

More anecdotes about false positives can be found in this Guardian piece about school surveillance - 12:25

"Cruel and Unusual Punishment: The Shame of Three Strikes Laws"

Are The Kids Alright?

REWORK