AI Policy & Governance, Equity in Civic Technology, Privacy & Data
Brief – Hidden Harms: Targeting LGBTQ+ Students
LGBTQ+ students are increasingly being targeted by novel policies and practices that threaten their privacy in schools, and monitoring student activity online is no exception. In fact, algorithms that scan students’ messages, documents, and websites visited may include search terms like “gay” and “lesbian.” Although the stated purpose for targeting LGBTQ+ students with online monitoring efforts is to keep them safe, recent research from CDT suggests that they are being harmed instead, with 29 percent of LGBTQ+ students reporting that they or someone they know has been outed by this technology. Additionally, LGBTQ+ students are more likely than their non-LGBTQ+ peers to be disciplined as a result of use of this technology, as well as to be contacted by law enforcement for criminal investigation.
Therefore, it comes as no surprise that LGBTQ+ students are more concerned than their non-LGBTQ+ peers about their activities being monitored online, including:
- Where and when monitoring takes place, especially outside of school;
- Who has access to their information; and
- How this technology works, such as by scanning their messages.
