Here’s what my professor provided everyone, and also remember this is just an introduction:
Note: Your research project will be composed in three sections of varying lengths:
1. establishing the problem by showing how it lives in the contemporary world;
2. describing and examining the social realities (dynamics between culture and policy) that led to the problems;
3. presenting and critiquing current efforts to address these problems.
For this assignment you will write an introduction to your project relying on 1-2 of the examples below. Each of these examples introduces you to different ways to effectively introduce your topic and integrate your research (creative parallels, storytelling/anecdote, paraphrase, quotation, and footnote) to develop an introduction to a social justice project. Your introduction should aim to provide information about the most current context for the problems your education topic examines. Be prepared to add research in the next draft that will further establish this context.
1. Read all of the examples and select the ones you plan to imitate for your own project.
2. At the top of the page, indicate which examples you selected (just cut and paste the bolded, bullet pointed source(s).
3. Double space your work and use paragraphs.
Ethnography (Example #1) Establishing parallels and context: Research on contemporary news about racist incidents on college campuses creatively combined with common views (also researched) on free speech absolutism: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1FRmLHZwffGbUep9jM6_rMgSDs1eY-dLc/view
Lawrence’s parallels between received ideas about free speech and contemporary anecdotes/news show that received ideas about free speech (or anything for that matter) are easy to uphold when they aren’t accompanied by descriptions of their effects on actual human beings. His is a powerful example of the way “showing what that looks like” can powerfully shape our mindset in the direction of human rights.
Using this model, create your own parallel structure between two modes of communication that gets us to think more deeply about the problems associated with your topic.
The parallel can be like Lawrence’s–published news stories of communities hurt by bad education policy or even just bad cultural practices alongside received ideas (about education); personal/individual experiences or anecdotes contrasted with laws/policies/popular images; any image text parallel that makes us think. Feel free to use other ideas to set up parallels that are used to establish context and set up the problem the rest of your project will explore.
Ethnography (Example #2): establishing context; third-person anecdote of an individual experience: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1P615JO38I1DUQR6y1LGT__Zn8pQoCucL/view
Autoethnography (Example #3): establishing context with personal experience & ethnographic research: https://drive.google.com/file/d/14yRpFLO2xD85omAfTKjWvbydSXLvdSpy/view
My research project is regarding the surveillance cameras in schools and how they’re susceptible to being monitored by unwanted breachers. Not only that but how little privacy students are getting and also the uncomfortable feeling their getting in their learning environment.
I have some sources if needed:
source 1:
Works Cited
Purtill, James. “Hackers Say they’Ve Gained Access to Surveillance Cameras in Australian Childcare Centres, Schools and Aged Care: A Group of Hackers Claims to have Breached a Popular Surveillance Company and Gained Access to Live Feeds from Thousands of Cameras Around the World, Including Australian Childcare Centres, Schools and Aged Care Facilities.” ABC Science OnlineAustralian Broadcasting Corporation, 2021. ProQuest, https://ezproxy.ivc.edu/login?url=https://www.proquest.com/other-sources/hackers-say-theyve-gained-access-surveillance/docview/2501873281/se-2.
Abstract
A group of hackers claims to have breached a popular surveillance company & gained access to live feeds from thousands of cameras around the world, including Australian childcare centres, schools & aged care residential facilities. The international collective of hackers say they broke into the company’s system to draw attention to the widespread use of surveillance cameras, & the ease by which outsiders can gain access to these systems. The list also includes public & private schools, universities, higher education colleges, an aged care provider, a national department store, a chain of duty-free stores, local governments & a state public transport agency.
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A group of hackers claims to have breached a popular surveillance company & gained access to live feeds from thousands of cameras around the world, including Australian childcare centres, schools & aged care residential facilities.
The cameras, sold by Silicon Valley startup Verkada, have the capacity for facial recognition. This includes identifying particular people across multiple timepoints or filtering individuals by gender or colour of their clothes.
The company said in a statement that it had notified law enforcement of the hack.
“Our internal security team & external security firm are investigating the scale & scope of this issue.”
The international collective of hackers say they broke into the company’s system to draw attention to the widespread use of surveillance cameras, & the ease by which outsiders can gain access to these systems.
A spreadsheet provided by one of the hackers to the ABC lists 24,000 organisations around the world using Verkada cameras.
On this list are more than 100 Australian organisations, including one with childcare & early education centres throughout the country.
The list also includes public & private schools, universities, higher education colleges, an aged care provider, a national department store, a chain of duty-free stores, local governments & a state public transport agency.
Prominent “hacktivist” Tillie Kottman, a software engineer based in Switzerland & one of those claiming responsibility for the hack, told the ABC in an online chat that the hackers could have accessed live feeds or archived materials for any Verkada customers on the list, including the Australian organisations.
“I don’t think we accessed any Australian customers,” they said.
The hackers claim to have peered inside women’s health clinics, psychiatric hospitals, prisons, police stations & gyms in the US. They showed some of these videos to a Bloomberg reporter, who broke news of the breach earlier this week.
A handful of screenshots from hacked Verkada live feeds are circulating online.
“We archived a small number of things which we are solely handing out to the press,” Tillie Kottman said.
The hackers say it was easy to hack Verkada. They claim they simply found a username & password for an administrator account publicly exposed on the internet. This gave them “super-admin” access to 150,000 cameras around the world.
They say they gained access to the cameras around midnight (AEDT) on Monday & had access revoked before Wednesday morning.
Verkada confirmed it had revoked administrator access to the cameras.
Hacked cameras have facial recognition ability
According to the Verkada website, all of the company’s cameras have facial recognition as a basic function, although customers may not necessarily choose to use this feature.
From the spreadsheet, it’s not clear if any Australian customers are using facial recognition.
The spreadsheet also doesn’t say how many cameras each organisation has, nor how & where they deploy these cameras.
Verkada promotional materials claim all its cameras have the ability “to detect people & faces, & filter results based on clothing colour, apparent sex, & the presence of backpacks”.
A companion web app available to Verkada customers can be used to search through archived footage for a specific person.
Tillie Kottman told Bloomberg the Verkada hack exposes “how broadly we’re being surveilled & how little care is put into at least securing the platforms used to do so.
“It’s just wild how I can just see the things we always knew are happening, but we never got to see,” they said.
Founded in 2016, Verkada is valued at $US1.6 billion.
Canberra-based cyber security researcher Robert Potter said the hack was typical of attacks against internet startups that have enjoyed rapid growth, but failed to scale their cyber defences.
“We’ve seen this with Clubhouse, Tik Tok, Zoom — these companies grow really fast & go really well until things go wrong,” he said.
He added the hack also showed the privacy risks associated with installing internet-linked surveillance cameras in schools & other places.
“These cameras are in a lot of things which means there’s value in hacking them.”
Verkada has been in the news before.
The company fired three employees last October after reports surfaced that workers had used its cameras to harass co-workers, including making sexually explicit jokes about female colleagues.
Word count: 699
Copyright Australian Broadcasting Corporation Mar 11, 2021
source 2: https://www.eff.org/press/releases/schools-are-spying-students-students-can-fight-back
source 3: TORONTO (CP) – School boards that use video surveillance should be careful to ensure security concerns don’t violate the right to privacy of students, teachers and other staff, Ontario’s privacy commissioner said Tuesday.
Boards need strict controls on the use of the technology that include laying out clearly what areas are being videotaped – and why – because people should never have to worry the surveillance is a “covert activity,” said Ann Cavoukian.
“Video surveillance can be an effective security tool,” said Cavoukian. “But privacy is an essential right that must also be addressed.”
While an informal survey done by her office found as many as 80 per cent of school boards have videos somewhere in their system, Cavoukian said surprisingly, “very few” have a formal policy.
Public school boards welcomed the guidelines.
“Security is a concern,” said Gerri Gershon, president of the Ontario Public School Boards Association.
“So, it would be helpful to have good guidelines that would help us maintain these video cameras where they are in place.”
During the provincial election, Premier Dalton McGuinty promised to help pay if elementary schools wanted to install video cameras as a way of improving student safety.
Education Minister Gerard Kennedy said there didn’t appear to be any pressing need for the government to regulate a provincewide framework for the cameras.
“Boards are self-responsible entities,” Kennedy said. “I would like to believe that the privacy commissioner’s report will be adhered to.”
Given that cameras and privacy concerns are “fairly new territory” for boards, Kennedy said he was pleased Cavoukian had issued the guidelines.
To ensure surveillance isn’t abused and privacy respected, Cavoukian said school boards should adopt a clear, formal policy – where possible before cameras are installed – that adheres to the following guidelines:
– Video cameras should only be installed in identified areas of schools where surveillance is necessary to deter or detect problems.
– Equipment should never monitor areas where students and staff have a reasonable expectation of privacy, such as in change rooms and washrooms.
– Students and staff should be notified about the surveillance program through clearly worded signs.
– Schools should not use hidden cameras.
– Strict controls are needed to ensure the security and the integrity of the recorded images.
– Tapes that have not been used as part of an investigation should be erased after not more than 30 days.
Works Cited
“School Video Surveillance Raises Privacy Concerns: [Final Edition].” Niagara Falls Review, Dec 17, 2003, pp. A8. ProQuest, https://ezproxy.ivc.edu/login?url=https://www.proquest.com/newspapers/school-video-surveillance-raises-privacy-concerns/docview/361339715/se-2.
source 4:
A PARENT has criticised his children’s school for its “gross invasion of privacy” after CCTV cameras were installed in one of the bathrooms.
But the school – Chesterfield High School in Crosby – maintained the cameras were needed to deter vandalism, anti-social behaviour and vaping in the newly-renovated area, which is intended for pupils and members of the public who use facilities after hours.
The unhappy dad, whose two sons attend the school, said: “I’m fuming as it has been done without any consultation with parents. You think they’d give people a reason why they’re doing it. The Information Commissioner’s Office is clear that CCTV in toilets shouldn’t be the norm. It’s a place of privacy.
“I just really think it’s a gross invasion of privacy. They don’t put CCTV in classrooms. It has got my back up because it has been done without any consultation at all.”
Images of the bathroom, shared with The ECHO, appear to show cameras pointed at cubicles, which have long doors extending to the ceiling.
Chesterfield High School headteacher
Kevin Sexton said: “All bathrooms in our school are continuously monitored by a member of staff during break and lunchtimes and this has been in place for a number of years to ensure they remain safe spaces and further protected from vandalism and anti-social behaviour.
“Over the summer we spent a considerable amount renovating and creating a unisex bathroom provision for students, which contains 20 fully private cubicles, wash basins and other toiletries.
“While this facility has yet to be opened, this will also be subject to in person monitoring by a teacher or member of staff during school hours. The bathroom will also be accessible to the public who use our facilities after hours and on weekends, especially for community and sporting events on our grounds.
“Due to the size and layout of this particular bathroom, plus its intended use by the public after school hours, a decision was made to install CCTV to monitor what our staff cannot.
“The camera is only able to view the publicly accessible areas and is designed to act as a deterrent to vandalism or anti-social behaviour. It also acts as a deterrent to vaping, which is an issue across many schools in the UK.
“No student will have their privacy violated yet should anybody feel uncomfortable, they are able to use existing facilities which do not have this additional CCTV provision.”
The dad, however, said: “The cubicles are irrelevant. The whole point is the area should be a place of privacy. I don’t agree with it being in toilets.
“I’ve called the school and I’ve asked to have a discussion with the headteacher. We send our children there. They should be telling us these things.”
Mr Sexton added that the school had since spoken to the concerned parent “and they understood why we were doing it in the best interest of the school community”. He said parents have now been written to about the new toilets.
CREDIT: By WESLEY HOLMES ECHO Reporter ****************** @LIVECHONEWS
CAPTION: Chesterfield High School in Crosby
source 5:
Acamera installed in a bathroom area at a girls’ school has left students feeling “uncomfortable” and “anxious”, a parent says.
The Tauranga Girls’ College parent says their daughter had “no idea” about the camera until she went to school on Tuesday morning, “And you go to use the bathroom and there’s a camera watching”.
The school said the camera is in the lobby of a toilet block, does not “intrude” on privacy in toilet cubicles and is there to discourage undesirable behaviour. It also acknowledged the concerns about the camera and that not everyone in its community may have known about it.
The Year 11 student’s parent, who spoke to the Bay of Plenty Times on the condition of anonymity, said their daughter and her friends were “uncomfortable” and “quite anxious” about the camera, particularly because they did not know who was on the other end of it.
The parent said they had seen “no consultation” from the school about the camera being installed in a bathroom.
“I understand at school, sometimes, bathrooms can be a bit of a shady place … but [in my view] that doesn’t give the school the right to film our children in a bathroom without any due process.
“We don’t know who’s on the other end. Are you permanently filming? Are you using it to review footage if needed?
“All of those sorts of questions should have been answered first before they went ahead.”
The parent said they were “not necessarily” against the idea of a camera.
“But I am against not including the community and the people who have got to use those bathrooms in the decision-making process.
“If you go to the gym, you can’t film in the locker room … If I go to the hot pools, I couldn’t do that in the locker room. So why is it okay at a girls’ high school to do that?
“I do understand where the school’s coming from but the school needs to make sure that everybody’s safe.”
They said they guessed it would be an anti-vaping measure or “something along those lines”.
“In my day, it was smoking in the toilets. Nowadays, vaping is the thing.”
The school was asked to respond to the parent’s comments and to questions about the camera and consultation about it.
Tauranga Girls’ College acting principal Kylie Valentine said in a statement that a camera was positioned “in the public lobby space of one toilet block”.
“The positioning and reach of this camera does not intrude on the privacy of individuals in toilet cubicles.”
Valentine acknowledged the camera had caused concern for some members of the community, however, its purpose was to “discourage undesirable behaviour” and protect the health and safety of staff and students.
She said the use of security cameras had been stated in school newsletters dating from June 9 onwards.
“We understand communication about this has not been read by all of our community. We are working to strengthen the reach of our communication.”
Valentine said the safety of students and staff remained the school’s “top priority”.
“Positioned alongside every camera is signage indicating there is a camera operating in that space.”
The Bay of Plenty Times Weekend reviewed the tumuaki’s panui [principal’s message] in the college’s newsletters, available on its website, going back to June.
Each included a note about cameras at school.
The June 9 note read: “I remind you again of the cameras in use at school. A sign that reads ‘camera operating’ indicates where they are positioned. You will see this at reception too. Recently, the cameras provided evidence of a 3am theft that took place. The information we captured could then be passed on to the police.
“We are not a ‘gated school’, so occasionally, people take shortcuts through our school despite our signage reminding members of the public not to do so. Our cameras are also helpful in capturing vandalism.
“Cameras are not located in changing rooms or ablution blocks for privacy reasons.”
Some of the subsequent newsletters noted: “Cameras are being trialled in some new sites” and that “cameras are not located in changing rooms or toilet cubicles for privacy reasons but can show sites of gathering, including in those spaces where students should not be”.
Speaking generally, a spokesperson for the Office of the Privacy Commissioner said any organisation using CCTV “must be transparent about what information they are collecting and why”. “Organisations must only collect personal information if it is for a lawful purpose connected with their functions or activities, and the information is necessary for that purpose.”
They should also ensure safeguards were in place that were reasonable in the circumstances to prevent loss, misuse, or disclosure of personal information collected by the CCTV.
“Before introducing new technologies or practices such as CCTV, we would always recommend that a company or agency engages with their local community to understand any privacy concerns they may have. This is of particular importance when the privacy of children is involved.”
One News reported on September 7 that cameras and sensors were being installed in toilet corridors at Rangiora High School in North Canterbury in a bid to crack down on vaping.
CREDIT: Megan Wilson
