CSHPE alumna and SOE lecturer, Molly Kleinman, co-authors report recommending ban on facial recognition technology in schools
The University of Michigan’s Science, Technology, and Public Policy (STPP) program released a report on facial recognition technologies in educational settings. This research is part of an initiative to anticipate the implications of emerging technologies and develop strong policies. Molly Kleinman, one of the four authors of the Cameras in the Classroom: Facial Recognition Technology in Schools (2020), is the Program Manager of the STPP program and a lecturer in the School of Education. Kleinman received her PhD in Higher Education Policy from the SOE’s Center for the Study of Higher and Postsecondary Education.
As facial recognition technology is increasingly used for identity verification, security, and surveillance in a variety of settings, schools have also begun to use it to track students and visitors for a range of uses, from automating attendance to school security. However, as the report states, “a growing body of evidence suggests that it will erode individual privacy and disproportionately burden people of color, women, people with disabilities, and trans and gender non-conforming people.”
By analyzing the history of similar technologies, the team of four authors identified five consequences of facial recognition technology in schools:
- it is racist;
- it brings state surveillance into the classroom;
- it punishes nonconformity;
- it commodifies children's data; and
- it is inaccurate.
As a result of their findings, the team advocates a ban on the use of facial recognition technology in schools. However, if schools and departments of education decide to deploy facial recognition, the team makes policy recommendations at the national, state, and school/district level.