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School Surveillance Systems Threaten Student Privacy, New Knight Foundation Lawsuit Alleges | Teen Vogue

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What happens when the era of AI-powered surveillance coincides with an authoritarian assault on public education? The transparency needed to answer that question does not exist, which is why the Knight First Amendment Institute, where I work, has filed a lawsuit seeking information about how one school district uses surveillance systems to monitor student laptops.

It is estimated that millions of children — nearly half of K-12 students across the nation, according to a recent New York Times report —are subject to digital surveillance systems that can potentially monitor every word or phrase they type on school-issued laptops, tablets, and software. These software systems, supplied to school districts by private education technology companies like GoGuardian, Gaggle, and Lightspeed, scan students’ communications, internet searches, and assignments, searching for keywords or phrases that may indicate cyberbullying, thoughts of self-harm, or thoughts of harming others. If a student uses a certain word or phrase deemed inappropriate by the vendor or the school district using the technology, administrators are notified and, in some instances, police get involved. The systems also have filtering capabilities, which can restrict students’ access to certain websites and pages based on their content.

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Given the widespread concerns about youth mental health, many people might view such digital surveillance as a godsend, a critical tool for combatting tragically high rates of youth suicide and depression, as well as school shootings. But that viewpoint likely rests on two assumptions: first, that the systems are as effective as the edtech industry claims, and second, that school districts are limiting the systems’ purview to content that relates to student safety.

It's not clear, however, that those assumptions have merit. The scant information we have about school surveillance suggests that the systems can lead to erroneous flags and can be used as a tool of overzealous surveillance by school administrators. Public records obtained by the Electronic Frontier Foundation have exposed several examples of students being flagged for innocuous visits to websites containing the text of Genesis from <a href="http://Bible.com" rel="nofollow">Bible.com</a>, classic literature like Romeo and Juliet, and publications about Martin Luther King Jr. and the Civil Rights Movement. In other cases, surveillance of students’ online activity has led to the unwanted disclosure of private details about their sexuality and the flagging or blocking of race-related content, according to a report from the Center for Democracy & Technology. And just last year, journalism students at a Lawrence, Kansas, high school successfully campaigned to get their files omitted from the purview of Gaggle, arguing that the school’s use of the technology would have a chilling effect on critical reporting on district staff and administration.

Despite the edtech industry’s claims that their artificial intelligence products have saved thousands of students’ lives, the Associated Press reports that no independent research has corroborated their efficacy. Industry data regarding the frequency and accuracy of the systems’ alerts is usually kept hidden behind closed doors, exclusively in the hands of the for-profit companies that develop and market them. And while school districts maintain that their use of these tools is aimed at deterring self-harm, cyberbullying, and other harmful situations, their ability to customize the standard list of keywords and blocked websites provided by edtech companies raises serious concerns about the extent of surveillance and censorship school administrators can carry out, and the potential impact on students’ privacy, speech, and associational rights. For example, school districts could easily block “Black Lives Matter” websites, as at least one district reportedly did in the past, and flag any research or discussion of sexual orientation. In a moment where many children are prohibited from discussing racial history, learning about gender identity, or reading banned books in the classroom, it is critical that they have alternative channels for exploration and expression, including the internet and messaging platforms. Digital surveillance endangers both the sanctity of their private communications and their freedom to access more accurate, complex, and engaging ideas than their schools might permit.

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Trump admin locking up families, children at NY-Canada crossings : Investigative Post

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Pedestrian entrance to Rainbow Bridge Customs station. Photo by J. Dale Shoemaker.

In a departure from past practice, U.S. Customs and Border Protection is detaining people — including families with young children — at official ports of entry along the New York-Canada border for as much as two weeks at a time.

In multiple instances since mid-February, families with young children have been detained in cells at the Rainbow Bridge in Niagara Falls.

An Investigative Post reporter personally confirmed one of those family detentions. In that case, the family was held for two weeks. 

Jennifer Connor, a Buffalo advocate for refugees and immigrants, said she has confirmed the detentions of other individuals and families, also lasting as long as two weeks, at the Rainbow  and Lewiston-Queenston bridges.

Peace Bridge officials told Investigative Post detentions had occurred there, too.

Connor, executive director of the nonprofit Justice for Migrant Families, said the detentions are “new, egregious and troubling.”

“It’s extremely troubling, and really a moral failing, in my opinion, of our society, that we are detaining children,” she said.

In the past, according to officials, detentions at the bridges lasted no longer than 48 hours. Those detained were then either released or transferred to the custody of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, then sent to an immigration detention center, such as the one in Batavia.

Tourists by the thousands headed into the city via the Rainbow Bridge on Saturday. Incoming traffic was backed up across the bridge. Canadians are celebrating Canada Day this weekend.

The Rainbow Bridge in Niagara Falls.

Connor said the longer detentions at the northern border started after President Donald Trump began his second term in late January. She said she’s heard reports of detentions in Champlain, New York, as well.

In a March case reported by NPR, a mother and her children were detained at the Ambassador Bridge in Detroit for five days, an experience the mother described as a “kidnapping.” The family had accidentally crossed the bridge into Canada and turned around, at which point they were detained.

Connor called these longer-term detentions “something new, different and troubling at the northern border.” 

Customs officials so far have refused to acknowledge the longer detentions. In a statement to Investigative Post, a spokesperson declined to answer questions about the detentions, citing “agency policy” and “privacy laws.”

When asked by a reporter both in person and over the phone, Customs agents refused to acknowledge that multiple people were detained at those sites.

Advocates say those refusals have made it difficult for family members and attorneys to locate and contact those being held. When a person is held in ICE custody, for example, their name appears in an online database, which tells family members and attorneys how to locate and contact them.

That’s not been the case for the detentions at the bridges, Connor said. She described those detained as “disappearing.”

“Especially as I started hearing about this and did not have a way to make contact with people … I felt like people were disappearing,” Connor said. “And it’s a scary feeling.”

Customs officials wouldn’t say why people are being detained at the bridges. They wouldn’t say if the detainees have been charged with any offenses or crimes. In the statement, the CBP spokesperson said the agency does not release information on those detained unless they are charged with a crime. He said further the agency does not release information on those determined to be “illegal aliens.” 

In at least one case, a family attempted to enter Canada but was turned back. Upon re-crossing the bridge, U.S. officials detained them.

In another case, an asylum seeker traveled to Buffalo to attend an immigration court hearing as part of his case. Afterwards, and similar to the Detroit family, he made a wrong turn and crossed the Peace Bridge. Upon turning around, he was detained. The man was later transferred to the ICE detention center in Batavia, Connor said.

Ron Rienas, CEO of the Buffalo and Fort Erie Peace Bridge Authority, confirmed detentions had occurred at the Peace Bridge but said he did not know how many people were being held or for how long. CBP rents space at the four Western New York crossings into Canada — at the Peace, Rainbow, Lewiston-Queenston and Whirlpool bridges — from the Peace Bridge Authority or the Niagara Falls Bridge Commission.

“There may be instances due to lack of inland space where people are being held longer at the port than they normally would have been,” Rienas said.

Rienas said the space his agency leases to the federal government includes cells. 

Tony Masiello, the former Buffalo mayor who now serves on the Peace Bridge Authority’s board, said he was aware of one family with young children detained at the border. He called their detention “disturbing.” 

“I heard about that and I find that really disturbing,” he said. “We have to take these situations as individual cases and not every person needs to be detained, obviously. And I think there’s circumstances where people should not be detained.”

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In a statement, Dr. Myron Glick, CEO of Jericho Road Community Health Center, decried the lack of transparency around the new detention practice.

“We urge CBP to immediately clarify its policies, ensure humane treatment for all detainees, and provide full transparency regarding who is being held and why,” he said. “The U.S. must uphold its legal and moral obligations to protect human rights, not undermine them through punitive and opaque practices.”

Glick called on authorities to “conduct a full and transparent investigation.”

The CBP spokesperson said those in the agency’s custody are “afforded opportunities for legal counsel, sanitary means, and all health-related arrangements.”

Connor said connecting detainees to lawyers has proven difficult.

“There’s an element of randomness, and you could say chaos, in how this is being applied,” she said.

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APOD: 2025 April 1 – A Double Sunrise from a Partial Eclipse

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Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer.

2025 April 1

A Double Sunrise from a Partial Eclipse
Video Credit & Copyright: Jason Kurth; Music: House of the Rising Sun (Sebastian McQueen via SoundCloud)

Explanation: Can the Sun appear to rise twice at the same time? This was just the case a few days ago from Les Escoumins, Quebec, Canada as our Solar System's bright central orb rose just as it was being partially eclipsed by the Moon. The featured video shows this unusual double-sunrise in real time and being reflected by the St. Lawrence River. Soon after the initial two spots of light appear over distant clouds, what appears to be bright horns become visible -- which are really just parts of the Sun not being eclipsed. Soon, the entire eclipsed Sun is visible above the horizon. In all, this broken sunrise took less than two minutes during a partial eclipse that lasted many times longer. Although the Moon circles the Earth once a month (moon-th), it does not always eclipse the Sun because its tilted orbit usually takes it above or below.

Gallery: Partial Solar Eclipse of 2025 March
Tomorrow's picture: jupiter red

< | Archive | Submissions | Index | Search | Calendar | RSS | Education | About APOD | Discuss | >

Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
NASA Web Privacy, Accessibility, Notices;
A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
NASA Science Activation
& Michigan Tech. U.

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‘One of the darkest days’: NIH purges agency leadership amid mass layoffs

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Did Mark Carney Just Lap The NDP On Affordable Housing? Not So Fast.

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Note: I’ve started mailing signed books to those who joined as an annual paid subscriber during my sale last month. There are a lot to send (thank you!), so I’m doing them in batches so as not to alienate my local post office and those behind me in line. But the books are on their way!

On Monday, the Liberals announced a housing plan that includes a promise to create a federal entity, Build Canada Homes (BCH), “to get the federal government back into the business of home building.” I was immediately intrigued, and excited. I think we need a public developer to build non-market housing. The market won’t. Not enough of it, anyway. But I don’t want to get too excited yet. One never should in electoral politics.

According to the party, BCH would be an affordable developer “at scale,” building homes throughout the country, “including on public lands.” There’s more to their housing plan, but this initiative stands out, in part because it looks a lot, at least in theory, like an ambitious, statist program of the sort one would expect to see from the country’s left-wing party, the NDP. Indeed, it borders on socialism at first glance.

But the details matter. There’s a risk that BCH, acting as a developer, sets into the private-public partnership (P3) hell that results in poor-quality, expensive, unaccountable outcomes – in essence, a giveaway to the private sector. There’s also a risk the plan is little more than a loan scheme, the likes of which will be insufficient to get the job at at scale as the Liberals promise. A primarily loan-based entity would also come awfully close to what the NDP is already offering (more on that below).

The Liberals say the organization “will develop and manage projects and partner with builders for the construction phase of projects.” I’m reserving final judgment until I see the specifics. For instance: Who gets what and how? How much will builds cost buyers? Will builds be and remain truly affordable? Is this non-market social housing, market, or mixed? How are profits distributed? Is this largely or entirely for pre-fab homes (seems like it may be the latter)? Will the union rights of workers be respected and protected?

All this aside, however, even the concept itself of a public builder is a great leap forward in the housing debate. The left should embrace the opening, as we should most offers to get the government into critical industries and to meet needs the free market can’t or won’t.

The NDP hasn’t released its full housing plan yet, but it looks like the Liberals have outflanked them on public building branding at least. So far, the social democratic party has promised to “unlock public land” for rent-controlled housing and are pledging to stop big investment firms from snapping up rental stock and driving up prices. They’re also promising to publicly finance home construction with a Community Housing Bank, one it would act as a “partner” that would pair with “non-profit developers, co-ops, and Indigenous communities.” Again, it could very well be that this plan and the Liberal plan are co-equal in all but branding, especially since the Liberals are also promising their own, low-cost financing for existing affordable home developers.

Whatever the distinction, or not, between the two plans. The terms of the housing debate in Canada are shifting to include more of a role for government in housing development, and that’s good. Once upon a time, the government built social housing in this country. For decades in the last century, from the Second World War up until the 1990s, the government recognized the need for the state to fill a role the free market wouldn’t and to ensure that Canadians had a decent shot at an affordable home. Then came the era of retrenchment, of the Third Way, of neoliberal economic dominance primarily driven, in Canada, by big cuts during the Liberal years under Prime Minister Jean Chrétien, an economic conservative if there ever was one.

Cuts to federal housing builds and programs under Chrétien and, before him, Progressive Conservative Prime Minister Brian Mulroney, helped fuel the housing crisis that we are living through now. It didn’t help that provincial governments came to bear more of the responsibility for housing and proceeded themselves to abandon the state’s role in getting (affordable) homes built, or downloaded responsibilities to municipalities who couldn’t afford the burden. Now, Carney has opened the door to getting the government back in the building business by the mere framing, no pun intended, of his party’s plan.

As Canada faces an existential threat from the United States and Donald Trump, Carney has also adopted a war time frame for his campaign, and for his housing plan. He’s billing his party’s offerings as an ambitious return to the commitment of the post-war years when the federal government built (pre-fab) homes for veterans coming back from service overseas. Those years and subsequent decades saw a massive expansion of the welfare state, a trend that benefited millions but was cut short as the economic order shifted from the 1970s onward.

Even if the Carney plan should fail to live up to its promise, the Liberals have opened the door to a shift in the very nature of our discussion around housing — and the left should seize on it. The prospect of the state playing a role in building homes, of doing what the market can’t or won’t, is on the agenda. The NDP should take this opportunity and try to exceed Carney’s plan, promising a housing agenda that rules out any P3 boondoggle while asserting the state’s role in building non-market, affordable housing for millions. For now, it may look as though Carney has lapped the NDP, but the party might still be able to catch up, and even pull ahead on the file.

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Hundreds of international students wake up to an email asking them to self deport for campus activism - The Times of India

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  • Hundreds of international students wake up to an email asking them to self deport for campus activism
Hundreds of international students in the US are getting an email from the US Department of State (DOS) asking them to self-deport owing to campus activism. Immigration attorneys’ contacted by TOI affirmed this development and added a few Indian students may also be at the receiving end of such emails – for something as innocuous as sharing a social media post.
It is not just international students who physically participated in campus activism but also those who shared or liked ‘anti-national’ posts that are the target of these emails, said an immigration attorney.
This crackdown is based on social-media reviews being conducted by DOS (which includes Consulate officials). Thus, even new student applications be it for an F (academic study visa), M (vocational study visa) or J (exchange visa) will also come under such social media scrutiny. Applicants will be denied the opportunity to study in the US.
According to the latest Open Doors report, there are 1.1 million international students studying in the US in 2023-24 of which 3.31 lakh are Indian students.
As reported by Axios earlier, Marco Rubio, Secretary of State, has launched an AI-fuelled ‘Catch and Revoke’ effort to cancel the visas of foreign nationals who appear to support Hamas or other designated terror groups. Axios further reports that more than 300 foreign students have had their student visas revoked in the three weeks that ‘Catch and Revoke’ has been in operation, there are 1.5 million student visa-holders nationwide.
The email sent to the students reads:

“On behalf of the United States Department of State, the Bureau of Consular Affairs Visa Office hereby informs you that additional information became available after your visa was issued. As a result, your F-1 visa with expiration date XXXXX was revoked in accordance with Section 221(i) of the United States Immigration and Nationality Act, as amended."
"The Bureau of Consular Affairs Visa Office has alerted the Department of Homeland Security’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which manages the Student Exchange Visitor Program and is responsible for removal proceedings. They may notify your designated school official about the revocation of your F-1 visa."
"Remaining in the United States without a lawful immigration status can result in fines, detention, and/or deportation. It may also make you ineligible for a future U.S. visa. Please note that deportation can take place at a time that does not allow the person being deported to secure possessions or conclude affairs in the United States. Persons being deported may be sent to countries other than their countries of origin."
"Given the gravity of this situation, individuals whose visa was revoked may wish to demonstrate their intent to depart the United States using the CBP Home App"
"As soon as you depart the United States, you must personally present your passport to the U.S. embassy or consulate which issued your visa so your visa can be physically cancelled. You must not attempt to use your visa as it has been revoked. If you intend to travel to the United States in the future, you must apply for another U.S. visa and a determination on your eligibility for a visa will be made at that time."
According to immigration attorneys, the flurry of self-deportation emails that are being sent to international students stems from a March 25, internal directive dispatched by Rubio, directing mandatory social media reviews of existing international students already in the US and new applicants.
“If the social media review uncovers potentially derogatory information indicating that the applicant may not be eligible for a visa, Fraud Prevention Units are required to take screenshots of social media findings to the extent it is relevant to a visa ineligibility, to preserve the record against the applicant's later alteration of the information,” states this internal directive.
“Consular officers do not need to upload social media findings if the review does not reveal derogatory information, but consular officers must enter case notes stating they conducted a social media review which did not reveal derogatory information,” adds the directive.
Such students are also being informed by their International Student Service Office that their SEVIS record has been terminated. SEVIS is the web-based information system that the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) uses to track and monitor international students during their duration of study.
“Students with a terminated SEVIS record must depart the U.S. immediately; there is no grace period following a SEVIS termination. We advise you to depart the US as soon as possible," states this intimation.
Views of an immigration attorney:

, founder of an immigration law firm, spoke extensively with TOI on this emerging issue.

“F-1 and J-1 students are usually admitted D/S, meaning for the duration of their status. There’s a slight distinction between overstay and unlawful presence Historically, someone admitted D/S has not accrued unlawful presence for the purpose of 3 or 10 year bars unless USCIS makes a formal finding that they are unlawfully present. This is important because if you're formally unlawfully present for more than 180 days or 365 days, it can trigger a 3 or 10 year bar. However, with overstay, it's more in a gray area - where the consular officer has more discretion whether to hold that overstay or status violation against the person,” said Shao.

“USCIS’s page has been updated recently on Jan 25 and now states that – Non-immigrants admitted for the duration of status, generally begin accruing unlawful presence the day after their status ends, if they remain in US,” he pointed out.

This is similar to what the administration had attempted during his earlier tenure, when they tried to change the rule to backdate unlawful presence to the point of time when the person violated status.

“Historically, someone admitted under D/S can stay as long as they are maintaining that status - such as being a full time F-1 student or J-1 exchange visitor. In cases of SEVIS termination, normally there are two things an international student can do - either apply to USCIS to reinstate your F-1 and SEVIS, or leave the US and try to get a new F-1 visa through the embassy.”

Shao added, “As part of the leaked Rubio memo (reported by online media) states that affected people should self deport and report to the US consulate or embassy for physical cancellation of their visa, it doesn’t seem like going back to apply for a new visa would be a great option.” (The email sent to a student, as seen by TOI, also has a similar wording).

Jath Shao and other immigration attorneys view that students should seek legal counsel to help them reinstate their SEVIS or in a worse case, immigration attorneys can defend them if removal proceedings are brought against them.

Rubio’s statement at an earlier press conference:
At a press conference in Guyana on Thursday, in response to a question relating to the Turkish student at Tufts who has been detained, Rubio said: “if you apply for a visa to enter the United States and be a student and you tell us that the reason why you’re coming to the United States is not just because you want to write op-eds, but because you want to participate in movements that are involved in doing things like vandalizing universities, harassing students, taking over buildings, creating a ruckus, we’re not going to give you a visa. If you lie to us and get a visa and then enter the United States and with that visa participate in that sort of activity, we’re going to take away your visa.”
“Now, once you’ve lost your visa, you’re no longer legally in the United States, and we have a right, like every country in the world has a right, to remove you from our country. So it’s just that simple.”
“I think it’s crazy – I think it’s stupid for any country in the world to welcome people into their country that are going to go to their universities as visitors – they’re visitors – and say I’m going to your universities to start a riot, I’m going to your universities to take over a library and harass people. I don’t care what movement you’re involved in. Why would any country in the world allow people to come and disrupt? We gave you a visa to come and study and get a degree, not to become a social activist that tears up our university campuses. And if we’ve given you a visa and then you decide to do that, we’re going to take it away…Once your visa is revoked, you’re illegally in the country and you have to leave. Every country in the world has a right to decide who comes in as a visitor and who doesn’t”.

Lubna Kably is a senior editor, who focuses on various policies and legislation. In particular, she writes extensively on immigration and tax policies. The Indian diaspora is the largest in the world; through her articles she demystifies the immigration-policy related developments in select countries for outbound students, job aspirants and employees. She also analyses the impact of Income-tax and GST related developments for individuals and business entities.

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