On the surface, Securly seems like a great tool. It prevents students from playing games and accessing inappropriate websites, and lets teachers monitor millions of students every day. There's no doubt it increases productivity in schools.

Sounds too good to be true? That's because it is.

For years at our schools in the district of Middletown Public Schools, CT, have been using this application to monitor students, and it's good that teachers and administrators have this capability. But what they either don't realize or don't care about is Securly's true intentions.

There have been numerous accounts and undeniable proof that Securly is gathering information from our devices, including files, geolocation data, screen recordings, camera feed, and history, and selling it to third parties. Our data is being sold out while our admins stand idly by, because it's not their data being stolen.

Additionally, even personal devices on the school network can be monitered, and while usually these aren't allowed anyway, there are exceptions. For example, I use my personal laptop for our school's robotics program, and I have highly personal and important files on there.

If we don't act now, this will never see the light of day. They will say that it's for the greater good, but there are far better ways, even other extensions, that accomplish the same goal without selling our data.

If they won't listen, we'll make them listen.