Dangerous Data: What Communities Should Know about Artificial Intelligence, the School-to-Prison Pipeline, and School Surveillance

This report reviews the expanding infrastructure of police surveillance in public schools and highlights the failure of AI technologies and digital surveillance in making schools safer. Further, the report discusses the harms these technologies may cause to Black and Latine youth and youth from other historically vulnerable communities. Calling on youth justice advocates, youth leaders, and education policymakers to challenge the impact of school surveillance and data criminalization, the report lays out key recommendations for advancing youth data justice. Notably, the report recommends “Federal and state education policymakers must divest from school surveillance systems and technologies and ban their use given the threat to civil rights, privacy rights, and youth wellness, among other ethical considerations.”