Privacy worries over Delhi govt's move to live-stream CCTV footage of schools to parents

In 2019, the Delhi government started a pilot project at the Shaheed Hemu Kalani Sarvodaya Bal Vidyalaya in Lajpat Nagar, allowing parents to access live-feed from the CCTV cameras installed in the school’s classrooms.

With the Delhi government expanding the coverage of CCTV cameras in schools and going ahead with its plan to make available live-streams of the footage to parents, experts have cautioned against such surveillance, citing a lack of safeguards and privacy violation concerns.

Parent associations also said constant monitoring within a classroom will curtail a student’s natural spirit. (file image)

Parent associations also said constant monitoring within a classroom will curtail a student’s natural spirit.

Government schools in the Capital have had CCTV cameras installed in their classrooms since 2017, though parents have not had access to this footage so far.

In 2019, the Delhi government started a pilot project at the Shaheed Hemu Kalani Sarvodaya Bal Vidyalaya in Lajpat Nagar, allowing parents to access live-feed from the CCTV cameras installed in the school’s classrooms. The project lasted for nearly a year, till the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic in March 2020 left schools shut and disrupted the state’s plans to expand the project streaming to other schools in Delhi.

However last month, the directorate of education (DoE) asked heads of government schools in the Capital to ensure CCTV systems are set up on time.

In a directive to heads of schools, the department said the state public works department (PWD) will install and test the cameras, after which parents or guardians will be given a link to access live footage from cameras in the school, using an individual ID and password. Schools have also been asked to approach parents or guardians for consent.

The consent letter requires parents to say that they will not share the password of the cellphone app for live video footage of their children’s classroom with any third person. It also says that in case of violation or misuse of footage, suitable action as per law will be taken against the parent.

In the absence of robust data protection laws and password-sharing being a common phenomenon among families, parents’ groups and experts have flagged concerns regarding the misuse of footage.

Teachers’ groups criticised the move as well.

Ajay Veer Yadav, general secretary of the Government School Teachers’ Association (GSTA), said the plan was likely to have dangerous consequences for the teacher-student relationship and will violate teachers’ privacy.

“Doctored images, video, and footage out of context may be shared rampantly [if the move comes to fruition]. This will adversely affect the equation between students and teachers too,” said Yadav.

In 2019, the Delhi Parents Association (DPA) filed a petition against the move, a matter currently in court.

Aprajita Gautam, DPA president, said that while the group was not against the installation of cameras in schools in view of security concerns, it lodged a petition against the live-streaming of footage, which she said would violate the privacy of students and teachers.

“Even if the government takes consent from some parents, what about the right to privacy of other children whose parents don’t sign up for the move? Their children’s footage will be viewed by other parents too. Will the government give us a guarantee that footage will not be shared with others?” said Gautam.

Live-streaming footage from the school may also alter kids’ behaviour, she said, arguing that children may cease to be their natural selves within the classroom. The move would also erode the trust children share with parents and teachers, said Gautam.

The Delhi government and DoE did not respond to queries seeking comment on the matter.

Taking cognisance of some of these concerns, the Internet Freedom Foundation (IFF) in 2021 wrote to the Delhi Commission for Protection of Child Rights (DCPCR), asking it to recommend an immediate ban on the use of facial recognition technology in schools in Delhi in 2021.

Anushka Jain, associate policy counsel (surveillance and transparency) at the Internet Freedom Foundation (IFF), said the Delhi government needed to be “more transparent” about the features of the CCTV programme in schools.

“How will the government ensure that parents do not share password or device with other family members or friends? How will it ensure that the footage is not viewed or shared with criminal intent? One can never be sure about the people viewing the footage within a household or their intent. Sharing of passwords within families is quite common and this will definitely cause problems,” said Jain.

She said it is the responsibility of school administrations to ensure children are safe within school premises.

“The feeling of constantly being watched is not healthy for anyone. Surveillance will harm children and their parents don’t need to constantly keep an eye on them,” said Jain.

Pawan Duggal, cyber security expert and Supreme Court advocate, said that while the intention behind the step might be noble, live streaming classroom footage is likely to cause complications on the privacy front, along with larger societal complications and cyber-security ramifications that needed to be assessed.

“Even a child is entitled to the fundamental right to privacy. Any sharing of the child’s footage, be it with parents or others, will be in violation of the child’s right to privacy. Some parents can also be reckless and might end up sharing the footage in the public domain which could have a negative impact on the growth of the child. There might be more challenges on the cyber security front since the footage might be tampered or manipulated,” said Duggal.

Some parents, however, will help reassure them of their kids’ safety in school.

Vandana Gupta, a mother of a six-year-old who studies in a government school in Kalkaji, appreciated the move.

“So far, the school has not informed us about plans to live-stream camera footage. However, if the government implements this facility, I’ll appreciate it. This is a good step and will allow us to see what children are doing inside the classroom,” said Gupta.

BK Sharma, principal of Shaheed Hemu Kalani Sarvodaya Bal Vidyalaya in Lajpat Nagar that provided live classroom footage to parents for a year, said that parents had a positive experience throughout the project. “The project was started keeping in mind the safety and security of children. The objective was to inculcate self-discipline in children. Students, teachers, and parents were happy with the move. Since many students take public transport for commuting to school, the live streaming allowed parents to confirm that their children had reached school safely. Surveillance is not the driving principle behind monitoring of footage,” said Sharma. He said that the school already had the requisite infrastructure and just needed to initiate the mechanism of live-streaming of footage once again.