Speaker Advocates for Protecting Student Privacy in Age of Surveillance

Eva Galperin, director of cyber security at the Electronic Frontier Foundation and co-founder of the Coalition Against Stalkerware, spoke about the importance of combating invasive surveillance technology practices at Pruyne Lecture Hall on Oct. 21. Although her work primarily includes reviewing government and company IT policies, she applied her experiences to the academic environment.

Galperin was joined by Christine Whalley, the college’s chief information security officer, who moderated the event.

Galperin began by emphasizing the need for educational institutions to prioritize the needs and well-being of its students over external stakeholders.

“Universities need to keep a lot of people happy, including major donors, parents, alumni, and college administrators … but where do students come into the picture?”

Galperin noted that many schools use invasive software programs on their students, including automated license plate readers, security cameras, drones, and gunshot detection instruments. While these technologies are intended for campus safety, they also capture private moments.

Similarly, many universities use social media and online monitoring software under the guise of public safety purposes.

“Nearly 80% of universities use student online activity monitoring software, such as GoGuardian or Proctorio,” she said. Programs like GoGuardian have access to students’ browsing history and search for trigger words that pose a possible threat to students and faculty, such as suicidal ideation or gun violence.

However, Galperin highlighted the inherent bias built into these kinds of programs. In a study identifying flagged terms in an online browsing monitoring software, a disproportionate amount of flagged phrases were related to marginalized communities. Examples included “Title IX implications for LGBTQ+ community,” Google image searches for the Black power fist, and “text of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.”

To close the presentation, Galperin emphasized the importance of protecting student privacy and outlined some actions that students can take to protect their digital privacy, including documenting harm that surveillance technologies cause, using communication platforms outside of the college’s control, or sending disappearing messages.

Despite Galperin’s student-focused approach to her presentation on digital privacy, only one other Amherst College student participated in this event, alongside some members of the college’s IT staff. Still, Stefan Antonowicz, Director of Systems and Networking, emphasized the importance of having events like Galperin's.

“While the turnout was smaller than we hoped for, Galperin shared a wealth of resources that I highly encourage the student body to explore. In today’s world, privacy has become a luxury, and it is crucial that we actively work to protect our private lives.”

“The work being done by the Electronic Frontier Foundation is incredibly valuable, though it often goes unnoticed,” Antonowicz said.

Although the event focused largely on the issues with administrative surveillance, Whalley expressed general satisfaction with the college’s current policies, highlighting administrative collaboration with external organizations and commitment to limited surveillance.

However, she also acknowledged room for growth. “There is always more work to be done and we welcome engagement from the community in improving these policies and practices."