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Content type: Advocacy
The rapid expansion of educational technologies (EdTech) has introduced serious concerns about human rights protection in educational spaces. This briefing explores the impact of facial recognition technology (FRT) and heightened surveillance in these settings, highlighting many complex and multifaceted issues that demand careful consideration from a human rights perspective. From the erosion of privacy and the securitisation of educational spaces - that undermines the learning and growth…
Content type: Long Read
Increasingly, EdTech systems are less about teaching than about monitoring, security and ‘safety’ – although those aims are often mixed with wider educational claims.For instance, one company offering “high quality surveillance systems and CCTV for schools including sophisticated infra-red cameras which record in the darkest areas” claimed that these both deter “bad or antisocial behaviour from pupils, parents and visitors” and improve the concentration, productivity and attainment of the…
Content type: News & Analysis
Também disponível em portuguêsThe UN Special Rapporteur on the right to education published her report on academic freedom, which recommends that states ban facial recognition technologies from educational institutions.Brazil’s educational system - which is built on the fundamental value: the best interest of the child, is one of the world’s worst offenders. So far 1,667 schools in the state of Paraná alone have adopted a technology that the UN’s leading expert believes threatens student’s…
Content type: Examples
The Los Angeles school district turned off “Ed”, a $6 million chatbot, after the company paid to develop it got into financial trouble. The incident provides a cautionary tale for Britain’s new Labour government, which has talked of using AI in schools to free up teacher time and revive public services on a tight budget, as has a report issued by the Tony Blair Institute. The failure of the algorithm used to predict GCSE and A-level grades during the covid lockdown and the potential to increase…
Content type: Examples
With the use of ChatGPT already well established among students technology companies are coaching teachers on using AI tools to save substantial time on tasks such as grading, providing student feedback, and planning lessons, which reports say take up to 50 hours a week. Teachers are uncertain; planning lessons is one of the more creative parts of the job, and students crave human feedback. Link to the article Publication: MIT Technology ReviewWriter: James O'Donnell
Content type: Advocacy
At PI we have been observing with concern the rapid expansion of technologies in educational settings, which has included a wide array of tools that allow the surveillance of students and academic staff, to the detriment of their privacy and academic freedom. We consider this upcoming report as an essential platform to examine the intricate interplay between academic freedom, freedom of expression, and surveillance conducted by both public and private entities through Education…
Content type: Advocacy
Privacy International (PI) welcomes the opportunity to provide input to the forthcoming report the Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related tolerance to the 56th session of Human Rights Council which will examine and analyse the relationship between artificial intelligence (AI) and non-discrimination and racial equality, as well as other international human rights standards.AI applications are becoming a part of everyday life:…
Content type: Advocacy
We submitted a report to the Commission of Jurists on the Brazilian Artificial Intelligence Bill focussed on highlighting the potential harms associated with the use of AI within schools and the additional safeguards and precautions that should be taken when implementing AI in educational technology.The use of AI in education technology and schools has the potential to interfere with the child’s right to education and the right to privacy which are upheld by international human rights standards…
Content type: Long Read
Introduction
India’s educational system is the largest in the world, with over 250 million students, 50% of whom attend publicly administered schools.
The autonomy given by the Indian Constitution to the 28 states and 8 union territories means that the right to education is implemented quite differently in each one, respecting culture, language, and other local specificities. Educational policies are suggested at the national level by various autonomous agencies and states can implement them in…
Content type: News & Analysis
An estimated 90% of the world’s student population are affected by school closures in the Covid-19 pandemic. And, in the absence of physical space, education technology companies are stepping in to fill the gap. There are plenty of reasons to be excited about the potential of technology to provide support, but it’s important to consider the ongoing implications of which technology we choose, and the implications for those families who don’t have access to them in the first place.That’s why we’…