Texas Schools Outpace Nation in Student Social Media Surveillance
Texas schools lead the country in using social media monitoring tools to track students, but experts question the effectiveness of these services. Many parents and students remain unaware that school districts are paying third-party companies to watch their online activity.
Texas schools lead the nation in the use of social media surveillance, with over 200 districts utilizing third-party tracking services. Companies like Social Sentinel, Securly, Gaggle, and GoGuardian monitor students' online activity, emails, and even keystrokes on school devices. This widespread tracking follows the deadly school shooting in Uvalde, which brings renewed attention to how schools attempt to identify online threats of violence.
Despite the growing adoption of these tools, there is significant doubt about their actual effectiveness. The Uvalde school district purchases social media monitoring services, but evidence suggests these tools do not work as well as companies claim. Computational journalist Ari Sen notes that it is highly unlikely the surveillance technology identified the Uvalde shooter to authorities before the tragedy occurred.
Beyond questions of effectiveness, these surveillance practices raise serious privacy concerns for young people. School districts frequently implement these monitoring systems without notifying students or parents, leaving families without an opportunity to weigh in on the practice. Because districts often keep the specifics of these services hidden, it remains difficult for the public to know exactly what data is collected and how it is used.