THREAD: The biggest story of my life is finally out.
Since 2019, I’ve been investigating a monitoring tool called Social Sentinel. They bill it as a way to help save students’ lives.
I found it had another purpose — surveilling campus protests. bit.ly/3xxFWM7
Since 2019, I’ve been investigating a monitoring tool called Social Sentinel. They bill it as a way to help save students’ lives.
I found it had another purpose — surveilling campus protests. bit.ly/3xxFWM7
The company says its service isn’t a surveillance tool.
But universities used it to track protests over a Confederate statue, student criticism of university officials and even a town hall with a US Senator.
But universities used it to track protests over a Confederate statue, student criticism of university officials and even a town hall with a US Senator.
In emails to clients, company salespeople also boasted about “mitigating” and “forestalling” protests.
They even created a whitepaper about how the service could be used in demonstrations.
They even created a whitepaper about how the service could be used in demonstrations.
At least 37 colleges have used Social Sentinel since 2015. But emails sent by the company founder suggest it may be “hundreds.”
None of them seem to have told students anything about the tool.
None of them seem to have told students anything about the tool.
In more recent messages to clients, the company has promoted a new feature — the ability to monitor student emails.
A note about the paywall — I hope you’ll choose to support the DMN so you can read this story. Right now you can subscribe for only $1.
But if you are a student who wants to read but can’t afford it, email me from your .edu account with your Venmo and I’ll cover you.
But if you are a student who wants to read but can’t afford it, email me from your .edu account with your Venmo and I’ll cover you.
To complete this investigation my reporting partner @DKproduxion and I interviewed dozens of people and acquired and reviewed more than 56,000 pages of documents.
We are also making all of those documents public today: documentcloud.org/app?q=%2Bproje…
We are also making all of those documents public today: documentcloud.org/app?q=%2Bproje…
We couldn’t have done all this without lots of help.
First among the group are our editors/advisers @karisaking and @DavidBarstow.
First among the group are our editors/advisers @karisaking and @DavidBarstow.
Our illustrator @MichaelHogueDMN deserves a special shout out for this incredibly cool and creepy illustration.
And the folks on our audience team — @zairalperez @A_Slayton and @omgsiali — have also been working super hard to make sure people see the story.
And the folks on our audience team — @zairalperez @A_Slayton and @omgsiali — have also been working super hard to make sure people see the story.
Lots of others too — @paldhous, @suryamattu, @jonathanstray, @elenaconis, @brettvsimpson, @Hancock_JohnD, our classmates @ucbsoj in the investigative and narrative writing seminars, @bboying1275 and @MarinaWalkerG @pulitzercenter, @amy_hollyfield @KatriceRHardy & our lawyer Tom.
I also personally want to thank all of the people who mentored and inspired me first at UNC, then at NBC and finally Berkeley and the DMN.
Without all of these folks this story would not be possible.
Without all of these folks this story would not be possible.
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