Teachers in Denmark are using apps to monitor student moods.

Rockenbach says these sociograms are critical tools for identifying social exclusion and can help identify children who are vulnerable to bullying. He cited testimonial reports from schools as an indication that the platform could help improve safety. But, he added, “we haven’t done a complete research project that could be compared to, say, a school that doesn’t use Bloomsights.” That’s what we’re trying to do.

Indeed, some teachers wonder how useful or ethical the app is. “They are very close things that are asked and they are [the children] You never know who’s going to see it,” says Naya Marie Nord, a teacher at Bloomsights, a school in the suburbs of Copenhagen. “Of course, as a teacher, I need to know how my students feel. But this is something I’d rather convey confidentially between the student and me than to tell the computer. Nord is concerned about how many teachers who don’t work directly with children still have access to their data. She believes the app pushes ethical boundaries considering how much it affects students’ personal lives.

“They don’t have a chance to understand what’s going on. It’s not like we’re going to give them a long explanation of how it’s used and who has access.” [to the data]” says Nord. “And if we did, we wouldn’t get an honest answer. I believe they would answer me differently if they really understood the amount of data I see about them and how much others can see.”

According to the data policies of ClassTrivecell, one of the platforms that collect anonymous data, the app does not require permission from parents or children before using it in the classroom. The company said that because the app is an integrated tool used for security purposes, it is exempted from the requirement of obtaining permission from government authorities to collect data under Danish law. And because the platforms aren’t classified as “information society services” like Facebook or Google, parental consent is not required under the General Data Protection Regulation, the EU’s sweeping data privacy law.

Legal precedents seem to support Klassetrivsel’s claims about how the Data Act applies to work. In the year In 2019, a parent complained to the Danish Data Protection Agency that her child’s school’s data-based security platform was conducting forced surveillance on her child. Parent further argued that “measuring and monitoring safety is not the same as improving safety.” The agency supported the school municipality: the app was considered a tool to carry out “critical social good” activities that fall under the responsibility of schools.

“Oftentimes, the legal authority in which these third-party applications operate is providing services on behalf of public authorities,” says Alan Frank, an IT attorney at the agency. But still they should not store data correctly and collect more than necessary. They must also act under the authority of the government. “If there is an arbitrary teacher or school that has been established suddenly without supervision by the municipality or the Ministry of Education, that is a problem.”

In Denmark, parents can opt out if they do not want these apps to be collected on their children. According to Bloomsights, it’s the same in the US: Although practices vary, Rockenbach says parents sign a sheet once a year that lists the various services the school uses.

But because the apps are used in an educational context and created as a hobby, both parents and policymakers tend to be protective of them. There are many other apps that I limit my child’s use, but I don’t worry about Tik Tok and YouTube in the same way as apps that are used at school, for example, the children in the fifth grade class that mother of one Janni Hindborg Christiansen Woof uses. “At least Wof is used in a controlled environment and serves a good purpose. I believe it’s more critical than many other applications.”