Schoolyard Surveillance

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View this email in your browser For Immediate Release S.T.O.P. Whitepaper Raises Concerns Over K-12 COVID-19 Contact Tracing Tech Warns that invasive tech products are no substitute for manual contact tracing, highlighting potential dangers to young students.   [NEW YORK, NY, 9/2/2020] -- Today, the Surveillance Technology Oversight Project (S.T.O.P.), a New York-based privacy group, released its whitepaper Schoolyard Surveillance, detailing concerns with K-12 schools' uses of invasive and unproven tracking technologies to monitor the spread of COVID-19. The report warns that the expansion of high-tech contact tracing (including GPS, Bluetooth proximity detection, Wi-Fi triangulation, cell tower triangulation, and radio-frequency identification "RFID") is likely to undermine public health, amplify health inequities, and erode privacy.   SEE: Schoolyard Surveillance https://www.stopspying.org/schoolyard-surveillance    WIRED: Schools Turn to Surveillance Tech to Prevent Covid-19 Spread https://www.wired.com/story/schools-surveillance-tech-prevent-covid-19-spread/   “Our children should not be used as guinea pigs for invasive new tracking tools,” said Surveillance Technology Oversight Project Executive Director Albert Fox Cahn. “Parents and teachers are faced with excruciating questions about restarting in-person instruction, but it’s clear that new contact tracing technologies won’t be the solution. These systems are completely untested, relying on questionable promises from profit-driven surveillance vendors. These new systems are a dangerous distraction from the evidence-based options available to schools, including manual contact tracing interviews.”  The civil rights group began warning against the adoption of contact tracing apps in March of this year, highlighting the way new tracking technologies would undermine both privacy and public health. In May, the group detailed the potential dangers of emerging Bluetooth-based smartphone contact tracing software. Reporting from the New York Times earlier this year has confirmed the limitations and dangers of contact tracing apps.   SEE: Washington Post– The Technology 202: Other countries use surveillance to fight coronavirus. Privacy advocates worry the U.S. could follow. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/powerpost/paloma/the-technology-202/2020/03/17/the-technology-202-other-countries-use-surveillance-to-fight-coronavirus-privacy-advocates-worry-the-u-s-could-follow/5e70268c88e0fa101a74acf2/   Beware: Bluetooth Ahead https://www.stopspying.org/bluetooth   SEE: You Don’t Need Invasive Tech for Successful Contact Tracing. Here’s How It Works. https://www.propublica.org/article/you-dont-need-invasive-tech-for-successful-contact-tracing-heres-how-it-works   N.Y. Times - Virus-Tracing Apps Are Rife with Problems. Governments Are Rushing to Fix Them. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/08/technology/virus-tracing-apps-privacy.html   The Surveillance Technology Oversight Project is a non-profit advocacy organization and legal services provider hosted by the Urban Justice Center. S.T.O.P. litigates and advocates for privacy, fighting excessive local and state-level surveillance. Our work highlights the discriminatory impact of surveillance on Muslim Americans, immigrants, and communities of color.   - END –