A disturbing report has emerged that Alabama school district paid a former FBI agent $157,000 to monitor the social-media accounts of students, resulting in 14 expulsions last year.
The program targeted 600 of Huntsville’s 24,000 students over the past year through a program called SAFe, Students Against Fear. Teachers or students could anonymously tip Chris McRae, the ex-FBI agent, about alarming things, and McRae would then scour their social-media accounts for signs linking them to drugs, weapons, gangs, or sex.
McRae was working under a $586,000 contract that the Huntsville school district paid to T&W Operations. AL.com noted that the school spying was not the only suspicious activity being conducted by T&W:
Jeannee Gannuch, co-founder of the South Huntsville Civic Association, said after the online program came to light, she noticed T&W was following her civic group on Facebook. Gannuch, who has at times been critical of city officials, said she blocked the consulting firm.
“My tax dollars are paying for a hired hand to watch a political organization? That doesn’t seem right,” said Gannuch.
T&W claims they are unaware of the allegations.
[via AL.com]