Know About Digital Devices Searches in California Schools? Send a Report to EFF.

Here in California, we’re in a tough battle over how and when the government can search through the digital devices of teachers and students. A terrible proposal—A.B. 165—seeks to strip over 6-million Californians of privacy safeguards baked into our state laws, giving the government a loophole to rifle through personal digital devices in schools without a warrant issued by a judge.

We’re looking for individuals in California’s public schools who can report on experiences with digital device searches. Are you a student who had a school administrator search your device without your consent? Are you a parent whose son or daughter was punished because of data found on their device? Are you a teacher who has seen or been part of questionable searches in the school context? We want to hear about it.

Types of stories that would be especially useful for us:

• Examples in which digital device searches may have violated existing California law and resulted in negative consequences (embarrassment, administrative action, criminal investigation) for students or teachers;
• Examples in which digital device searches in schools exposed sensitive details about students, teachers, or their families, including medical concerns; immigration status, economic status, sexual orientation, or political speech;
• Other examples of digital devices searches in California schools that you found concerning.

Please report stories using our survey and share this request with your friends.

A.B. 165 is currently scheduled for a hearing before the Assembly Committee on Privacy and Consumer Protection on April 18. That means that right now is a very important time to make sure all our California legislators hear us. Please speak out now against A.B. 165. 

Speak out.

Not in California? You can still make a difference. Please reach out to your friends in California and ask them to speak out, and please share this blog post on social media.

Read more about how A.B. 165 will impact privacy in California and could be the first step toward rolling back privacy protections for other communities.