'A Teacher's Thoughts On The GoGuardian App' by Dr. Michael Flanagan

I am not a “Big Brother is watching” conspiracy theorist. I know it is not a theory. We are all being “watched” at all times.

Anyone who is remotely tech-savvy can spy on and obtain personal information about any of us, at any time. Google, Facebook, and Find Apple devices are just a few examples of the constant tracking done by big corporations and the government.

It’s always been my philosophy to, “let them spy”. I am not afraid of directed-product advertising, or of the government surveilling me for what I write, post, scroll, or search for. My online activities are never illegal.

Plus, as a blogger, I could use the traffic.

While I may not be worried about the NSA, I am mildly concerned that—for example—some mid-level municipal bureaucrat may take exception to something I write about the mayor, or the governor, or the president, or some white supremacist group. And that mid-level municipal bureaucrat might try to use my emails, websearches, or personal information against me in an effort to dox me or get me fired.

As a New York City public school teacher, I know there is no expectation of privacy while using any NYC Department of Education device or account. This is made clear by the NYC DOE Privacy Policy and its Social Media guidelines. Workplace monitoring online is commonplace and accepted as part of most employment.

The problem is, that while I am an adult, and fully aware of what that means, children do not.

Because they are children.

I was recently at a Professional Development session where we were being shown how to use the GoGuardian app-part of the Google Suite in an effort to monitor student online activity during class.

There are many teachers who support GoGuardian. I know that those teachers simply want to exercise more control over the students while they are in class, to keep them on-task and make sure they are not doing anything inappropriate. I agree, it is important to keep students focused on the lesson in order to educate them.

As many of my colleagues in the PD session were setting up their accounts and creating their classrooms, I looked closer, and became disturbed by the features of the GoGuardian app…

…Because, while the presenters were demonstrating the program features, they opened up one of their “GoGuardian classrooms”, and several students were there.

Live. Online. Using their computers. From their homes.

Even though it was not a school day.

We could see the video games they were playing, and the searches those kids were doing in real time. While luckily, there was nothing inappropriate going on…what if there had been?

There were more than 90 staff members on that Zoom presentation at the time.

What if, for instance,

- A child had left their webcam on (or their Zoom, Skype, Meets, etc) and they were getting dressed?

- A child searched for domestic abuse websites and the teacher now had knowledge of that?

- A child searched out information on illegal activity conducted by a parent?

- A child sought to find resources for obtaining an abortion?

- A child sought out confidential medical information?

- A child searched out how to buy a weapon?

What kind of liabilitywould the teachers be under, for having knowledge of these compromising situations? What would happen if a parent finds out a teacher was online monitoring their child’s device during these private instances, in their own home? If that teacher has knowledge of their child’s browsing history but doesn’t inform the parent, or the authorities?

So, while I personally may not be scared of Big Brother, I am concerned about all the “Little Brothers” (and Sisters) who now have the ability to monitor the school accounts of our children. And the hackers who could cause a security breach similar to what happened to Pupil Path last month. Are we as parents and educators prepared to hand over the keys to this Pandora’s Box to anyone who has access to a GoGuardian account?

Before this PD session, I was not familiar with the GoGuardian app. I would imagine this is true for many of us. So let’s inform ourselves about this student monitoring device.

The NYC Department of Education licensed the GoGuardian app in 2020, as an extension of its G-Suite contract. The company was founded in 2014 in California, and specializes in Chromebook security. They are owned by Liminex inc., which is valued at $1.75 billion dollars.

The GoGuardian Privacy Agreement states:

“At GoGuardian, we firmly support the fact that school districts should and do own and control their students' "Personal Student Information". We take great efforts to collaborate with customers to provide them the ability to access, modify, and delete this data consistent with FERPA, COPPA, and all other applicable laws.”

The company claims there is no violation of FERPA laws. But this seems to be because the company “voluntarily” chooses not to be more invasive with the student information. One should always be suspicious of the altruistic claims of corporations. If someone CAN monitor a student’s activities on any device at any time, then someone WILL monitor their activities on any device at any time.

GoGuardian has different settings, and with a specific switch being “toggled,” the monitoring capabilities of the program varies. It is possible for the GoGuardian to monitor all activity when your accounts are open.

It is in fact, their motto: ANY DEVICE, ANYWHERE.

Some NYC School Parents are already worried about the reach of GoGuardian. Leonie Hamison, school advocate, Class Size Matters Executive Director, and child advocate, has already been raising awareness of the GoGuardian app. As have CPS parents in Chicago who have already protested against the potential violations of student privacy.

In an effort to increase transparency, the NYCLU has filed a FOIL request in court to find out how much the NYC contract with GoGuardian actually is. GoGuardian licensing costs range from $5.99 - $13.99 per license, per student, per year. With approximately 1.1 million public school students in NYC, I am sure the NYC DOE contract helped the company’s stock value .

I write this article for informational purposes, and out of concern. I am not sure parents and teachers know the extent to which these student-monitoring companies are potentially compromising the privacy of our children. Or for that matter, the privacy of school employees.

At the time of the PD session, I had my school accounts open on my cell phone, my iPad, my personal computer, and my work computer. My child--who is a NYC DOE student--also had her DOE account open on her cell phone, her computer, her iPad and her school-issued device.

My entire home was accessible to any DOE employee…

…or hacker.

I immediately deleted all school accounts from all of my personal devices. I will no longer access school emails outside of school hours, nor will I keep any non-personal devices open with a school account.

And, I will not be using GoGuardian in my classes. .

So, all things considered, it was an informative Professional Development session.

Thank you, NYC DOE.