In an attempt to open during the pandemic, many US universities are forcing students to download location-tracking apps, sometimes as a condition of enrollment
In Michigan, a small liberal-arts college is requiring students to install an app called Aura, which tracks their location in real time, before they come to campus. Facebook: Zeynep Tufekci . Tweets: @jacob_r_schulz , @demfromct , @margaretomara , @zeynep , @danielshanahan , @salomonja , @marcelsalathe , @bethanyshondark , @adriennelaf , @bkcharvard , @jacob_labendz , @theatlantic , @leahswanky , and @anniejacobsen Facebook: Zeynep Tufekci : Many colleges are opening in-person, only to close few weeks later. Tweets: Jacob Schulz / @jacob_r_schulz : Sad but not just a bad reflection on colleges; it's part of a broader story of people in power way over-estimating the efficacy of contact tracing apps, something I wrote about w @e_setzer and @chas_gk back in July https://www.lawfareblog.com/ ... https://twitter.com/... Greg Dworkin / @demfromct : .@zeynep has had more •early• important articles on the pandemic about what we are doing wrong than just about anyone. https://www.theatlantic.com/ ... Margaret O'Mara / @margaretomara : Everything @zeynep writes is so smart, and here she clearly explains something glaringly obvious and frustratingly overlooked, and that underscores why I find all the blame-those-partying-students stories infuriating. https://www.theatlantic.com/ ... https://twitter.com/... Zeynep Tufekci / @zeynep : Those COVID apps some colleges are trying to force students to download? Worse than useless. You know what else is worse than useless? Bringing the students together for a few weeks, and then sending them home in a panic, to seed new clusters. New piece. https://www.theatlantic.com/ ... https://twitter.com/... Daniel Shanahan / @danielshanahan : This article by @zeynep is brilliant. We need to be talking more about the manifest and latent functions of a university, and what it means to open up campus while shift blame to students as they expect some of the most crucial parts of university life. https://www.theatlantic.com/ ... Joshua Salomon / @salomonja : Great, thoughtful article from @zeynep, making a strong case that attempts to surveil students are wrong and futile. Excerpt here captures why it's hard to envision safe, successful return to on-campus experience right now, even with aggressive testing. https://www.theatlantic.com/ ... https://twitter.com/... Marcel Salath / @marcelsalathe : Brilliant piece by @zeynep about some universities' desperate efforts to control COVID19. What a wasted opportunity; university campuses are full of smart people who all want to contribute to a solution. Community health requires community engagement https://www.theatlantic.com/ ... Bethany S. Mandel / @bethanyshondark : Let's look on the bright side: an entire generation may be weaned off a toxic cell phone habit. https://twitter.com/... Adrienne LaFrance / @adriennelaf : “Draconian surveillance is not only counterproductive. It is antithetical to higher education.” @zeynep's latest: https://www.theatlantic.com/ ... @bkcharvard : “If digital contact tracing is to be invoked, it has to be through voluntary apps with strong guarantees of privacy and a lack of punitive consequences.” - @Zeynep Tufekci cautions against mandatory COVID apps on college campuses in @TheAtlantic https://www.theatlantic.com/ ... Jacob Labendz / @jacob_labendz : Sage words on the (ir)responsibilities of opening university campuses during an uncontrolled pandemic and—what we don't hear nearly enough—how terrible university surveillance regimes are for students and the university community. https://www.theatlantic.com/ ... @theatlantic : Some colleges are trying to prevent COVID-19 outbreaks by surveilling their students. But trying to do so is all but useless, @zeynep writes: https://on.theatln.tc/bIVycCF Leah / @leahswanky : “Hiding from authorities because they have come up with an unworkable plan during a pandemic—opening university dorms but expecting students not to socialize—will foster cynicism, not education.” https://twitter.com/... Annie Jacobsen / @anniejacobsen : “Mandatory COVID-19 apps could result in an even worse outcome than that of tracking athletes—” The Pandemic Is No Excuse for Colleges to Surveil Students - The Atlantic https://www.theatlantic.com/ ...