School social media surveillance raises privacy infringement questions

Facing ongoing threats of school violence, some districts are implementing services to monitor the social media accounts of everyone living in the immediate vicinity, including unrelated adults, with one company called Social Sentinel watching over all local posts for key phrases that could foretell a school shooting, Education Week reports.Though there are reports that this type of surveillance has thwarted some attacks, they also reveal comments about self-harm and suicide, leaving districts in a gray area of having important information that, if shared, could infringe on students’ privacy.Some technology companies are also offering services that monitor all of a student’s school messages and emails for potential threats. The company Gaggle claims it found 577 imminent threats of attacks or plans of violence between June and December 2018.