New Lawsuit Against LAUSD Challenging Surveillance App

The Stop LAPD Spying Coalition and Students Deserve have filed a public records lawsuit against the Los Angeles Unified School District or LAUSD challenging LAUSD’s secrecy around the development of Los Angeles Schools Anonymous Reporting or LASAR app, a phone app that deputizes “the Los Angeles school community to anonymously report suspicious activity, mental health incidents, drug consumption, drug trafficking, vandalism, and safety issues.”

LASAR was launched in March 2023 and met with wide community opposition. Much of this concern has focused on the app expanding surveillance and criminalization of students rather than investing in resources that may improve student safety and wellbeing more directly. In September 2023, the Stop LAPD Spying Coalition filed a public records request with LAUSD about the development of the app. LAUSD has refused to disclose any of the requested records, in violation of the California Public Records Act and the California Constitution.

Along with filing this lawsuit, the Stop LAPD Spying Coalition have released an open letter on behalf of many community organizations condemning the harms of this app. Other signatories on the open letter include Disability Rights California, Children’s Defense Fund-California, ACLU Southern California, Legacy LA, and the Youth Justice Coalition.

Much is shrouded in secrecy about LAUSD’s development of this app and the relationship between the district and the tech company they have contracted to build it, Kokomo Solutions LLC, including what access this and other technology companies will have to students’ data. This lawsuit seeks to uncover this and other details about the app’s development, funding, privacy protections, and impact.

The Stop LAPD Spying Coalition, a community group founded in 2011 that researches and advocates against police surveillance technologies, and Students Deserve, a community group comprised of students, teachers, and parents that researches and advocates against criminalization and policing in Los Angeles schools, are suing the district for these records.