Season’s Greetings from Civic Tech!

Happy holidays from CDT’s Equity in Civic Technology Project! With another year in the books, our team wanted to take a moment and reflect on our ongoing work. We have also spent time thinking about our goals for the future, and we are excited to share a bit about our priorities heading into 2023.

This past year has seen significant shifts in the education landscape. School safety has returned to the top of the agenda, resulting in policymaking like the gun safety bill pushed in the aftermath of the Robb Elementary shooting that could have unintended consequences for student privacy. Ransomware attacks are a growing concern, prompting renewed calls for greater transparency around cybersecurity incidents. Finally, fallout from COVID-19 continues by bringing the mental health of students to the fore, prompting decision-makers to consider how they can better serve students, including through the use of data and technology. Our team is committed to ensuring that all stakeholders are prepared to meet these challenges, especially those that are amplified by the use of technology.

One issue we focused on the past year is the utility of student activity monitoring software. A spate of school shootings, in addition to the ongoing mental health crisis, has caused administrators to scramble for answers on how to protect students. The combination of these issues has led officials to look to technology for solutions, with 89 percent of teachers reporting that their school uses student activity monitoring software. We ended the year by doing a deeper dive into the impact of student activity monitoring on mental health, disciplinary actions, law enforcement contact, and reproductive health.

Another critical issue facing schools is that of cybersecurity, which we have highlighted in the past through guidance on preventing and mitigating ransomware attacks, avoiding phishing attacks, and building out robust access control systems. As schools continue to encounter these threats, they need increased resources, including direct funding, so that schools bolster their defenses.   Schools also require increased  coordination between federal agencies like the U.S. Department of Education (ED) and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) so that schools receive the best support available and know where to turn for guidance.  Lastly, more transparency around school cybersecurity incidents is needed so that there is a better understanding of the scope of the problem, resources can be marshaled to address it, and school administrators are held accountable for their security practices.

Our team sought to tackle student privacy challenges in a number of ways, including through educational work with lawmakers and advocacy before federal agencies.

We called on federal officials to protect students from harmful uses of their data. We urged the U.S. Department of Education (ED) to clarify that, under Title IX, schools are responsible for protecting students — including LGBTQ+ students — from discriminatory uses of data and technology. We also exhorted ED to issue guidance condemning discriminatory surveillance and to commit to taking enforcement action against violations of students’ civil rights. We advocated for CISA to establish robust reporting of K-12 cyber incidents while also requesting that the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) consider the effects of surveillance and lax data practices on students.

We evaluated policies for their impact on student privacy and the equitable use of data and technology in education. To this end, we sought to bring attention to the need for policymakers to clarify “education records” under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), Congress’s continuing and critical role in K-12 cybersecurity, and the student privacy implications of this summer’s bipartisan gun safety bill.

Looking ahead, we will be delving into how youth mental health is affected by the presence of tech in schools and aim to offer guidance to stakeholders concerned about the wellbeing of students. Moreover, we are looking at the expansion of artificial intelligence (AI) in education, and its applications to issues like personalized learning and academic integrity. Lastly, we will expand our work related to child safety, and examine the civil rights implications of emerging tech trends. We are eager to explore these areas, all while pushing decision-makers to consider equity and inclusion in their plans.

As we sign off for 2022, we wish everyone a safe, restful holiday break and look forward to future opportunities to collaborate to make sure data and technology work for everyone in 2023!