School Surveillance

Many are concerned with violations of privacy at schools. The increase in technology has increased those fears, and the fears come from multiple directions. Some argue that outsiders will try to breach a school's electronic systems in order to take student infromation. According to Edmonds, "The substantial use of campus computing resources to analyze, store, and disseminate valuable and sensitive information, and the potential vulnerability of these systems to attack, create a strong need for protection and security" (131). On the other hand, others fear violations from withing. Some feel that audio and video surveillance may make schools safer, but they may also be used to spy on students which violate FERPA requirements. Others point out that speaker systems in schools may allow two way listening (133). All provide examples of potential top-down institutional observations. Governments are also able to get certain information from students which also complicates student privacy. For instance, due to provisions of DMCA, governments can request student information in order for a student to be identified as participating in P2P sharing. It is thought that "a college or university should comply with a valid subpoena in providing the name and addresses of the users of the system, provided that the subpoena is issued by the district court where the university is located" (132). Some schools choose to delay providing this information after a subpoena is given in order to notify a student of the request, but some such as the RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America) say that "FERPA does not apply since the information is only directory information", and the validity of this statement has not been decided in the courts.

Selber (2004) discusses surveillance tools in the classroom (p. 109). For his classroom in particular, he states, “Many students do not even realize that their educational activities are being monitored by the system. So in order to critically analyze these surveillance measures, students must be altered to them as well as granted access to them, a process that requires teachers to share certain online privileges” (p. 111).

References:

Edmonds, Vincent Harold. Court Cases Involving Schools and Universities Under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974. Diss. The U of Alabama, 2010. Ann Arbor (Mich.): ProQuest, 2010. Web.

Selber, S. (2004). Multiliteracies for a digital age. Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press.