Student Alma Addy testifies on AI data privacy concerns and student transparency

Our next panel is, oh, back to our student panel now.

We have Alma Adi.

Sika Agbokov.

And Ariana Ahmed Misha.

Hello, committee members.

My name is Alma Addy, and I am a high school senior at Hunter College High School.

I am also here representing New York Civil Liberties Union as part of their Teen Activist Project.

I'm here due to my concern as a student regarding AI and data privacy.

The current AI policy does not address how AI usage will affect student data sharing and how schools can track students.

And we as students need more transparency about how our data would be used with hypothetical AI tools, and that must be reflected in the policy.

With the new policy, there is no section that addresses a key fact about AI.

At the end of the day, these AI companies are private businesses that collect data.

National regulations on AI data collection have not been fully developed.

And there is minimal transparency about what happens to student data when using AI tools, both on a national level, but also what data schools track.

This is a

massive issue for student safety and student privacy.

Although the policy mentions a screening process to check AI tools before being brought to classrooms, the current technology that students use already tracks us.

Most students, me included, do not understand how this tracking works, and that is terrifying, and we don't know how AI will contribute to that.

Ultimately, uncertainty is why I am here.

I attend a school where I have a choice to opt out of AI products.

But I know that in recent years, my school has forced us to use emails to access school computers.

I don't know what happens when I put my email into these computers, so I opt to use a personal computer.

Well, what happens when my friends at other schools are told to use AI for certain assignments?

What happens when a classroom mandates a tool that has proven negative effects?

Effects on classroom learning and on development.

This is happening in schools today and students don't know how to seek relief.

I'm worried about the current surveillance of students through technology.

Student input is key when developing this policy, but so is the input of data privacy experts and we must develop a policy that protects students, protects our classrooms, and pushes back on technology surveillance in school.

Thank you.