ACLU alleges widespread student cell phone privacy violations

A report out Thursday by the American Civil Liberties Union alleges teenagers’ privacy rights are often violated by public school administrators who confiscate student cell phones.

The problem, the ACLU says, is when administrators confiscate student cell phones, they find all kinds of information, some related to a suspicion the teen has broken the law or a school rule, some of it unrelated. A broad search of a cell phone can reveal a student’s personal or family financial information, romantic relationships or sexual orientation that a student may not want others to know about, according to the ACLU.

The ACLU report recommends districts train personnel to use specific and objective facts to search cell phones and to stop searching cell phones to find misconduct by other students.

In a memo to superintendents, Orange County Office of Education officials forwarded the ACLU report and did not criticize the findings. The memo recommended that administrators conduct cell phone searches only if they believe a student’s used the device to break the law or a school rule, not when a student’s violated the school’s cell phone possession rule.