this post was submitted on 04 Aug 2026
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Student Teacher Sent a Private Snapchat Complaining About Her Workday. An Hour Later, Police Pulled Up to Her School. (www.gadgetreview.com)
submitted 3 weeks ago by spaghettiwestern@sh.itjust.works to c/technology@lemmy.world
518 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

Sixty minutes. That’s how long it took for a private Snapchat message to travel from Kristen Volpe’s phone to the FBI to the deputies standing in her elementary school hallway. On January 29, 2025, the 22-year-old student teacher at John L. Hensey Elementary in Washington, Illinois, vented to her boyfriend and two roommates — three people total — after a student closed her laptop mid-class and wiped her lesson plan. She referenced shooting the student or the school. She meant it as a frustrated joke. Snapchat’s algorithm didn’t get the humor.

No student reported her. No parent. No coworker. The flag was entirely automated. Snapchat’s policy permits voluntary emergency disclosures to law enforcement — no warrant required — when the platform determines imminent harm exists. The algorithm makes that initial call. Think of it like your Ring doorbell deciding to call 911 on its own, except the doorbell is reading your text messages.

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[–] wuffah@lemmy.world 174 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago) (10 children)

This warrantless mass surveillance technology chain can also easily be used to silence dissent, chill speech, and oppress by race, religion, gender, sexuality, pregnancy status, and any other status so deemed problematic by those with state power. This is not a power delegated to the government by the constitution, and it was not built to protect the people.

We accept impositions on our liberty for the protection of the general welfare. Did this actually protect us?

[–] Cherry@piefed.social 19 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

I know right. The kinda events that they said this was to protect from rarely occur. When you look back they spruiked the word terror and extremist, over and over to get acceptance and now...well now almost everyone fits in that category if your language or moderate actions are not in flavour.

[–] maccentric@sh.itjust.works 19 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

spruiked (transitive, Australia) To promote a thing or idea to another person, usually informally.

[–] Zagorath@quokk.au 8 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago) (2 children)

Wait, other people don't use spruiked?

I guess I should take the opportunity to point out that it's pronounced "sprooked". With the "oo" from "moon", not "nook".

[–] maccentric@sh.itjust.works 10 points 3 weeks ago

I honestly thought it must be a typo but couldn’t figure out where it went wrong

[–] captainlezbian@lemmy.world 2 points 3 weeks ago

Nope, at least not in North America, and it sounds extremely Oceanian, so I'd be surprised if it's used in the UK

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