Ontario Education Minister Stephen Lecce says the province needs to “create guardrails” around vape detectors in provincial high schools after one school board installed devices that include noise detection.
On Monday, Global News revealed that six public high schools in Brampton and Mississauga have installed devices in student washrooms that are capable of detecting both vapour odour and loud noises, with alerts being sent to the administrator’s office.
The Peel District School Board insists the loud noise detection function “does not record conversations in any way,” but is intended to be an additional security measure for student safety.
“It’s a function that captures and notifies the school administration of loud sounds, which could mean that students are in need of assistance,” it said.
Privacy experts have raised concerns, however, that the audio-capturing capabilities of the devices could breach student privacy in what is otherwise considered a private space.
“The problem with these kinds of technologies is they start at this place and then they expand — often dramatically — over time,” Ann Cavoukian, former privacy commissioner of Ontario, told Global News.
“That could also expand to eventually picking up conversations kids are having in restrooms. And that, I think, would be a true violation of privacy.”
Some vape detectors that are geared towards high schools also come with a range of safety measures, including motion sensors, counting the number of students in a washroom stall, gunshot detection and trigger word detection.
While Lecce defended the use of vape detectors in publicly funded high school washrooms, he acknowledged the government might need to take a closer look at which devices are installed.
“They can be effective,” Lecce said but added that the government needs to “create guardrails to ensure safety.”
The province announced a three-year, $30-million fund to allow school boards to purchase vape detectors for student washrooms but has yet to specify which products the education system will rely on.
“Obviously our expectation is full compliance with privacy laws and I know school boards in good faith would do that,” Lecce said.
Lecce said he has “full confidence” in the steps the Peel District School Board took before installing vape detectors.
Lecce said the Ministry of Education will be setting up a technical working group – including educators, public health officials, parents and students – to implement the plan in September and suggested devices could be scrutinized during that process.
“Through that working group we can discuss the specificity of the programs,” Lecce said.
David Green, who chairs the Peel public school board, told Global News he plans to keep a close eye on how the vape detectors are being used.