Across the country, tech companies are pushing dangerous, potentially racially biased face surveillance products on schools, often with no meaningful oversight or student consent. The technology can be used to target students of color, exacerbating the school to prison pipeline and making schools feel unsafe for students. In Massachusetts today, no law prevents local schools from buying or using face surveillance to track young people and staff. That’s why the ACLU of Massachusetts supports a bill that would prohibit the use of face surveillance to spy on people in public places, including schools. And we need your help to make sure it becomes law.
Call your state representative!
Below is a phone script you can use when making your call. Feel free to personalize it with why you support legislation to keep face surveillance tech out of schools. If you are patched through to a recording from your representative's office, you can press 1 to leave a voicemail.
“Hi my name is _______________, and I am a resident of (CITY/TOWN). I’m calling today to ask my state representative to support H.135, An Act to Regulate Face Surveillance, and to please add their name as a co-sponsor. Current facial recognition law does not sufficiently protect racial justice, privacy, or civil liberties, including for students. H.135 would impose commonsense checks and balances on government use of face recognition, and prohibit the use of face surveillance for monitoring our activities in public spaces, including in public schools. I urge you to support H.135.”