The Surveillance Technology Schools Are Deploying For Student Monitoring

How does a shout represent anger? How does a scream show fear? And can a microphone attached on the ceiling pinpoint the difference between them? A report from ProPublica was published to seek the answer to these questions and it also discovered that the surveillance technology known as “aggression detectors” available on the market aren’t really effective at detecting and determining the anger in human’s voices.

The monitors which are from Sound Intelligence are installed in public spaces such as cafeterias and hallways to listening for tension or shouts. And if consumers pay an extra added price, the monitors can even listen to car alarms, gunshots, and recognize if students were using e-cigarettes inside the school bathroom.

As schools, hospitals, churches, and other public places continue to be the target of mass shootings, surveillance tech companies have been working on AI-packed microphones capable of listening on us and pinpoint a snubbed employee or an angry student before bad things could happen.

ProPublica took a visit to the Frank Sinatra School of the Arts which is located in Queens and asked for the help of students to test the effectiveness of the monitoring system. And the results weren’t really positive.

While the detector couldn’t detect a student’s glass-shattering scream, it could detect a coughing sound of a sick student. In another test, the detector went off when the students were cheering for a pizza delivery or when they were playing the Pictionary game.

The device’s machine learning algorithm picks up strained, high-pitched noises. However, it can’t analyze what we are saying and understand the meaning. Once aggression is detected, a message which reads “StressedVoice detected” will pop up.

A spokesman of Louroe Electronics, a California-based technology firm, which works on surveillance microphones said to ProPublica that there won’t be any invasion to the student’s privacy as the devices only track sound patterns that indicate aggression. But the monitors’ microphones record everything, which allows the school administrator to play those little pieces of conversation again and again.

The detection software is supposed to help security officers to prevent conflict from happening. However, the officers will become overloaded with false notifications if the monitor picks up the wrong sounds.

ProPublica reported that the market for school’s surveillance products is massive and thriving. Just last year, $25 million has been approved by the U.S, Congress to put into school security improvements.