A new proposed California bill will make it easier for school officials or anyone “for or on the behalf of,” a public school to search through parent, student, and even parent’s digital data without a warrant.

According to an Electronic Frontier Article,

“If A.B. 165 is enacted, CalECPA protections would be stripped from students and teachers, meaning:

•  Anyone acting “for or on the behalf of” a public school can conduct a search—that could potentially be anyone from lunch room attendants to on-campus police officers.
• School officials have no outside oversight when conducting searches and don’t have to report those searches to anyone.
• School officials  aren’t required to notify anyone—the individual or parents or guardians—about a search
• There are no clear limits on what digital data can be searched—photos, appointments, social media accounts, email accounts, text messages, and browser history could all be up for grabs.
• There are no safeguards to protect how data is used or shared, including with federal agencies. “

Teacher’s and students all have lives outside of the classroom. Our personal lives should not be invaded by officials who may or may not have a reason snoop around in anyone’s digital world.

Officials might use this authority to judge others off of what they do and/or say through their devices, which may not reflect who they are in a professional setting. We all have the right to separate school/work.

DO YOUR PART TO STOP IT : https://www.eff.org/student-digital-device-survey