As a concerned parent, I am deeply disturbed by Montville Township Public Schools' partnership with Gaggle. This student safety platform uses AI to scan the data on the laptops provided by the district. While the intention behind the program may be to enhance student safety, the effect is an invasion of our children's privacy.

Gaggle admits that its AI technology is prone to bias, and the technology is still new. Please see this section in Gaggle's homepage where they are accepting to compensate for the bias (https://www.gaggle.net/ai-ethics - This means that they are using out children's data to test out their product) By handing over our children's data to this system, we are essentially feeding their identities and thought processes into an AI that is capable of controlling and influencing them. This is particularly alarming considering that the ethical implications of AI are still largely ambiguous and uncertain.

Some argue that Gaggle is good to monitor mental health related issue. But if one were to read the article https://www.inklingsnews.com/tag/gaggle/; given the claimed rate of false positives, t is easy to notice that this kind of 100% student surveillance is not good for mental health. 

The partnership agreement with Gaggle allows data from every student to be monitored unless parents have the choice to opt out. The students using the personal laptop will still be monitored by gaggle as they cannot opt out of using google suites for education. This means that parents are provided with zero choice as far as third party app usage is concerned. But google asks explicitly to obtain parental consent. So the children/parent cannot exercise the right to opt out of this service even while using personal laptop.

Gaggle also seems to use so called "qualified people" to view at the flagged data; so this means that some one other than the teacher; the parents and the board is looking at the children' data and their write up. How is this not invasion of privacy?

Without this option, our children's data, mental processes, and individual identities become vulnerable and exposed. Parents should have the right to protect their children's privacy and make an informed decision about their involvement in the program.

Thus, we ask the Montville Township Public Schools to stop allowing Gaggle's AI-based data scanning on the laptops issued to students or, at the very least, provide an opt-out clause for parents who do not wish for their children to participate. Let's put the control back in the h

ands of the parents and protect our children's privacy rights. Please sign this petition and help keep our children's personal data secure.