Is the Pandemic School Surveillance State Here to Stay?

GoGuardian is a software company that makes, essentially, spyware: software that helps teachers and schools block and monitor what kids are doing online. When a student is using a school-issued Chromebook that has GoGuardian on it, the teacher can see just about everything they're doing. These technologies have been embraced by teachers and state Departments of Education alike, but students are less enthralled with having their online lives constantly surveilled. On Friday's episode of What Next: TBD, I spoke with Priya Anand, a tech reporter for Bloomberg who wrote a story on GoGuardian, about the rise of the school surveillance state and the implications of this technology for student's mental health and privacy. Lizzie O'Leary: You wrote for Bloomberg about Pekin Community High School in Illinois, which has been using GoGuardian for three years.