School monitoring software places teens at risk after the fall of Roe v. Wade
Following the US Supreme Court's Dobbs decision that paved the way for states to enact legislation criminalising abortion, health advocates warn that the surveillance software schools use to algorithmically monitor students' messages and search terms could be weaponised against teens looking for reproductive health care. These systems can automatically alert school administrators, parents, or police when they detect "dangerous behaviour", which may include anything from imminent suicide threats to sexual content - or searches for information about abortion or other health services that have abruptly become illegal. Such a change to a system in place requires only the addition of a few keywords.
Writer: Todd Feathers
Publication: The Markup
Publication date: 2022-07-08