(New York Times) – New technology alerts schools when students type words related to suicide. But do the timely interventions balance out the false alarms?

A law required that these devices be fitted with filters to ensure safe internet use, but educational technology companies — GoGuardian, Gaggle, Lightspeed, Bark and Securly are the big ones — also saw a way to address rising rates of suicidal behavior and self-harm. They began offering tools that scanned what students type, alerting school staff members if they appeared to be contemplating hurting themselves.

Millions of American schoolchildren — close to one-half, according to some industry estimates — are now subject to this kind of surveillance, whose details are disclosed to parents in a yearly technology agreement. (Read More)