This research uncovered seven main findings:
- Students using school-issued devices are monitored to a greater extent than their peers using personal devices;
- LEAs with wealthier student populations reported that their students are more likely to have access to personal devices, which are subject to less monitoring than school-issued devices;
- LEAs feel compelled to monitor student activity to satisfy perceived legal requirements and protect student safety;
- Most prevalent community concerns were focused on appropriate use of student activity monitoring data for disciplinary purposes;
- LEAs communicate privacy expectations to students and families, but are unsure about how much detail about student activity monitoring to include in those messages;
- LEAs are holding device and student activity monitoring software vendors accountable on privacy and security through data sharing and privacy agreements; and
- LEAs are looking for ways to improve the privacy and security protections for devices and data shared with student activity monitoring vendors.
Madrigal, D. H., Venzke, C., Laird, E., Grant-Chapman, H., & Thakur, D. (2021, September 21). Report – Online and observed: Student privacy implications of school-issued devices and student activity monitoring software. Center for Democracy & Technology. https://cdt.org/insights/report-online-and-observed-student-privacy-implications-of-school-issued-devices-and-student-activity-monitoring-software/