A cluster of tents had sprung up on the University of Houston's central lawn, a symbol of resistance against the institution's attempts to silence student voices. Surrounding the protest site was a barricade of plywood pallets, while students stood atop a blue tarp spread over the grass, their keffiyehs fluttering in the wind.
But what these students didn't know at the time was that they were being surveilled by the very institution they sought to protest. The University of Houston had contracted with Dataminr, an artificial intelligence company with a troubling record on constitutional rights, to gather open-source intelligence on student-led movements for Palestine.
Using its AI tool known as "First Alert," Datminr scraped students' social media activity and chat logs and sent what it learned back to university administrators. This marked the first detailed reporting on how a U.S. university used this technology to surveil its own students, highlighting the ways in which corporate involvement in higher education can be leveraged against free expression.
The case of University of Houston is just one example of the broader trend of public universities partnering with private companies like Datminr to monitor student protests and dissent. These partnerships have been implicated in a range of scandals, including the domestic surveillance of Black Lives Matter protesters in 2020 and abortion rights protesters in 2023.
At the University of Connecticut, students were watched as they slept in an on-campus encampment, with administrators receiving updates on their activities via email alerts. Similarly, at the University of Virginia, student organizers reported that university administrators would sometimes watch them, creating a "chilling effect" on their ability to speak out.
The use of open-source intelligence by universities is often justified as a means of "social listening," but in reality it serves as a tool for suppressing dissent and silencing marginalized voices. As Rory Mir, associate director of community organizing at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, noted, "Universities have a duty of care for their students and the local community...Surveillance systems are a direct affront to that duty for both. It creates an unsafe environment, chills speech, and destroys trust between students, faculty, and the administration."
The relationship between universities and corporate partners like Datminr raises profound questions about the role of these institutions in American society. As Tariq Kenney-Shawa, Al-Shabaka's U.S. Policy Fellow, pointed out, "These universities are the epicenter, the home base, of the future generation of Americans...If universities were so confident in Israel's narrative and their narrative being the correct one, they would let that debate in such important spaces play out."
The consequences of these partnerships can be seen on campuses across the country, where students have reported using secure messaging channels and burner phones to communicate about protests. The surveillance detailed in this investigation underscores the need for greater accountability and transparency in the use of technology to monitor student dissent.
In a broader sense, the partnership between universities and corporate partners like Datminr serves as a microcosm of the larger struggle over the role of corporations in American society. As the president of the United States has repeatedly sought to use these partnerships to silence critics of Israel's policies towards Palestine, it is clear that the stakes are far higher than any individual controversy.
Ultimately, the use of open-source intelligence by universities marks a disturbing trend in the corporatization of American education, one that prioritizes profit and conformity over free speech and dissent. As we move forward, it will be crucial to question these partnerships and to demand greater accountability from institutions of higher learning.
But what these students didn't know at the time was that they were being surveilled by the very institution they sought to protest. The University of Houston had contracted with Dataminr, an artificial intelligence company with a troubling record on constitutional rights, to gather open-source intelligence on student-led movements for Palestine.
Using its AI tool known as "First Alert," Datminr scraped students' social media activity and chat logs and sent what it learned back to university administrators. This marked the first detailed reporting on how a U.S. university used this technology to surveil its own students, highlighting the ways in which corporate involvement in higher education can be leveraged against free expression.
The case of University of Houston is just one example of the broader trend of public universities partnering with private companies like Datminr to monitor student protests and dissent. These partnerships have been implicated in a range of scandals, including the domestic surveillance of Black Lives Matter protesters in 2020 and abortion rights protesters in 2023.
At the University of Connecticut, students were watched as they slept in an on-campus encampment, with administrators receiving updates on their activities via email alerts. Similarly, at the University of Virginia, student organizers reported that university administrators would sometimes watch them, creating a "chilling effect" on their ability to speak out.
The use of open-source intelligence by universities is often justified as a means of "social listening," but in reality it serves as a tool for suppressing dissent and silencing marginalized voices. As Rory Mir, associate director of community organizing at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, noted, "Universities have a duty of care for their students and the local community...Surveillance systems are a direct affront to that duty for both. It creates an unsafe environment, chills speech, and destroys trust between students, faculty, and the administration."
The relationship between universities and corporate partners like Datminr raises profound questions about the role of these institutions in American society. As Tariq Kenney-Shawa, Al-Shabaka's U.S. Policy Fellow, pointed out, "These universities are the epicenter, the home base, of the future generation of Americans...If universities were so confident in Israel's narrative and their narrative being the correct one, they would let that debate in such important spaces play out."
The consequences of these partnerships can be seen on campuses across the country, where students have reported using secure messaging channels and burner phones to communicate about protests. The surveillance detailed in this investigation underscores the need for greater accountability and transparency in the use of technology to monitor student dissent.
In a broader sense, the partnership between universities and corporate partners like Datminr serves as a microcosm of the larger struggle over the role of corporations in American society. As the president of the United States has repeatedly sought to use these partnerships to silence critics of Israel's policies towards Palestine, it is clear that the stakes are far higher than any individual controversy.
Ultimately, the use of open-source intelligence by universities marks a disturbing trend in the corporatization of American education, one that prioritizes profit and conformity over free speech and dissent. As we move forward, it will be crucial to question these partnerships and to demand greater accountability from institutions of higher learning.
this is wild... like u think universities r supposed 2 be havin a neutral stance on everything but really they're just takin cues from their corporate partners? datminr's AI tool sounds straight outta some dystopian novel 
it's crazy how they're watchin students' social media activity and sendin updates to admins...i feel like universities r supposed 2 protect free speech not silence students with surveillance tech 
And now we find out that universities are actually watching their every move? 
That's just messed up. What's next, having our social media activity tracked and analyzed? It's already creepy enough when we see ads popping up on our feeds... don't even get me started on this "social listening" thing 
sounds like a fancy way of saying "we're gonna spy on you". 
Give me a break!
I'm still on edge after reading about this 
University of Houston scandal! It's like, what even is the point of having a university if they're just gonna spy on their own students? 
Like, can't they see that's not what education is all about? 
and what's next gonna be tracking our search history and email too?
it's like the whole idea of 'social listening' is just a fancy way of saying 'we want to keep an eye on you and silence anyone who gets too loud' 
we need to hold these universities accountable for their actions and make sure they're not being used as tools for oppression 
this is a huge problem that needs to be addressed ASAP 
... it sounds like universities are basically spying on their own students. Like, what's the point of even having a protest if they're just gonna snoop around? And it's not just about free speech, it's also about trust and safety for marginalized communities 
. I think we need to ask some tough questions about who gets to decide how universities are run and whose interests come first: students or corporate partners 
. Can't we find a way to balance these competing interests without sacrificing our values? It feels like we're seeing the erosion of public spaces where people can actually have open and honest discussions 
.
universities are supposed to be safe spaces for students but i guess not anymore 
the whole thing just feels so... Orwellian 
. I mean, what's next? They're gonna start monitoring our Netflix binges and YouTube views too?! 
. It's like, what happened to the whole idea of free speech and dissent? Now it sounds like these institutions are more interested in keeping the status quo than fostering a community of critical thinkers 
. And to think they're using AI tools to track students' online activity... that's just creepy 
. We gotta make sure our universities aren't getting too cozy with big corps 
like they're some kind of "security threat" just because they want to express their opinions about Palestine... meanwhile, they're literally building a barricade around the protest site with plywood pallets 
what's next? are we gonna have cops in riot gear patrolling the quad too? 
what's next, will they be monitoring our Netflix binges too?