Countless schools across the nation are having their security compromised by Spyware such as GoGuardian. The ethics chair of the American School Counselor Association herself has called it "intrusive" and has said that it is "conditioning children to accept constant monitoring." GoGuardian follows and watches students even during after-school hours. Banning GoGuardian and the rest of its look-a-likes isn't just so that students can access games during the summer, it is also about protecting the privacy of students online. In the state of Illinois we are required to take lessons on online safety and these spyware applications violate many of the principles which are being taught to us. Teachers and administrators can find potentially sensitive information by using these surveillance sites.

There could be kids from poor families with no access to technology. The only thing they could have over the long summer break could be a computer which adult strangers can freely moderate and make changes to (e.g. choosing what tabs can be open and what information can be located).

The adults who could have access to the private data of children may have malicious intent. Numerous teachers and school workers are arrested every year for illegal acts on the job. While this isn't common everywhere it is still frequent on a national scale. GoGuardian and other similar digital installations can easily be used as a tool by adults intending to commit illegal acts upon students.

GoGuardian used to be able to turn on webcams and track keystrokes, but thankfully those features were removed. An official at the company stated that it was done to help in GoGuardian's ongoing mission "to protect student privacy." If GoGuardian wants to truly protect the privacy of children it needs to fully accept the ethical and moral issues behind their products. 

These spyware are almost blatantly illegal and they violate the fundamental privacy rights between a child and a major company. I have created this petition so that the great state of Illinois may hopefully become the first of many states to outlaw these sites. I encourage anyone reading to sign this petition and do your best to make sure that your local government is aware of the privacy issues present with the prying eyes of these applications.