Securly

Securly, Inc. is a venture-backed[1] student safety & device management software provider headquartered in the Silicon Valley. Securly was founded in January 2013 by former McAfee network engineers Vinay Mahadlk[2] and Bharath Madhusudan.[3] It was registered to transact business[4] in California on July 19, 2013.

Securly
Type of site
Web filtering for schools
OwnerVinay Mahadik, Bharath Madhusudan
URLwww.securly.com
LaunchedJanuary 2013

Securly uses natural language processing and machine learning techniques to study the differences in outcome between when a child is involved in acceptable research activities versus engaging in harmful and unacceptable behavior across various data points available to it including web browsing, web searches, videos, social media, emails, online docs & drive, and anonymous tips.[5] More recently, Securly has expanded beyond a focus on student safety, to also cover other areas of K-12 IT software such as classroom and device management[6].

Securly presenting at the National Student Safety Conference held at Las Vegas, Nevada in November of 2019


Philosophy

Web filters are commonly used to prevent individuals from accessing web sites. Securly serves K-12 schools and parents of students by employing a philosophy of web filtering that provides schools with data on how students are using their 1:1 devices. Securly generates data on positive usage and detects issues such as cyberbullying and possible suicide. This empowers schools to take preventative measures.[7]

Features

Many features, such as monitoring and filtering, are available on the platform. Securly features a parent portal, where parents can set up filters for home as well as any school filters already put in place.

Filter

Securly Filter is the primary method of monitoring on devices. Filter uses machine learning algorithms to detect content on devices and block it. Filter works differently when geofencing detects that the device is on school campus or using a non-school WiFi network.

Auditor and 24

Auditor is a system that is programmed to function under G-Suite for cyber-bullying and self-harm detection using natural-language processing. This alerts the school counselor and the parents of students involved.

As of 2019, Auditor was updated to include image scanning of JPG, PNG and GIF files uploaded to Google Drive, combining flesh-tone detection and object recognition with machine learning to provide a nudity-detection service for both downloaded pornography and student selfies.[8]

Parent Portal

Securly Parent Portal is accessible via the Securly Home app for iOS and Android. This provides parents insight into their childs home web browsing and social media activity.[9]

Tipline

Tipline uses both human and AI monitoring to identify potential issues. It serves the same essential function as Auditor, but monitors social media, as well as internet usage.

Hub

The Securly Hub is a Wi-Fi router that applies the aforementioned features in the platform, as well as the ability to pause connections to individual devices. These settings affect all devices connected to its Wi-Fi network and enable parents to use another Wi-Fi router.[10]

Leadership team
  • Vinay Mahadik- CEO/ Co-Founder/ co-CTO
  • Bharath Madhusudan- CRO/ Co-founder/ co-CTO
  • Luis Curet- Senior VP of Sales Operations

Recognition

In October 2014, Securly was one of the first K-12 service providers to sign the Student Privacy Pledge co-created by the Future of Privacy Forum and the Software and Information Industry Association. On January 12, 2015, Securly and 74 other companies, including Apple and Microsoft, were recognized by President Barack Obama and the White House for their efforts to safeguard student data and privacy.[11]

In February 2015, Securly was reviewed by the popular educator website The Ed Tech Roundup and received a 5-star rating for its school product.[12]

Reception

Teachers and school administration have given praise to the company, as well as services like Gaggle and Bark. These services help school shootings.[13]

Not all of the public response has been positive. Some criticism stems from the belief that Securly is shifting focus from the students' issues, discouraging counseling, and pushing a filter on students to make sure they don't break the rules.[14] The American Civil Liberties Union alleges that Securly impedes on privacy rights in schools.[15][16]

Partner program

The Securly Partner Program is a tiered program based on Securly certifications, expertise and purchase commitments. The further a partner progresses through the tier, the more profits they realize. Organizations enrolled in the program receive sales and technical certification training, co-branded sales and marketing materials and channel market support.

gollark: Hmm, yes, if you *know* that then it's kind of similar to coercion.
gollark: > i shouldn't need to deal with people who live in the time of the old testament properly if they're not willing to catch up to the centuries of science which have undermined their very base belief about the earthYes, and you can ignore them/block them/etc.
gollark: You can blame it on your upbringing and environment and genes or the initial conditions of the universe and the rules for updating it or something like that, but I'm a compatibilist.
gollark: Probably.
gollark: Maybe you could say that about political ideologies too. Hmm. They're generally less reason-based, inasmuch as you can't really measure "opinion goodness" objectively.

References
  1. Brewster, Thomas. "This AI Startup Constantly Monitors Kids To Stop The Next School Shooting—And It Just Scored $16 Million Funding". Forbes. Retrieved 2020-06-28.
  2. "Vinay Mahadik - co-founder/CEO of Securly, Inc". LinkedIn.
  3. "Bharath Madhusudan - co-founder/CRO of Securly, Inc". LinkedIn.
  4. "| California Secretary of State". businesssearch.sos.ca.gov. Retrieved 2019-07-24.
  5. Kolodny, Lora. "Securly raises $4 million to put guard rails on the internet for K-12 students". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2017-10-09.
  6. Securly (2019-03-11). "Securly Announces TechPilot Labs Acquisition". Securly Blog. Retrieved 2020-06-28.
  7. "The Power of Positive Web Filtering", http://anotherschwab.com, 2015
  8. "Securly's Filtering AI Extends to Nudity Detection on Google Docs, Drive & Gmail". Business Insider. Retrieved 2019-02-26.
  9. "Securly Home: Digital Parenting Made Easy". Securly. Retrieved 2020-05-12.
  10. Kaul, Urvi. "Securly Relaunches the Hub - Safe-Wifi Hotspot for Families". PRWeb. Retrieved 2019-02-23.
  11. "FACT SHEET: Safeguarding American Consumers & Families", http://www.whitehouse.gov, 2015
  12. "Securly: Manage Screen Time - Any Device, Anywhere", http://www.edtechroundup.org, 2015
  13. Baig, Edward (2019-02-13). "Can artificial intelligence prevent the next Parkland shooting?". USA TODAY. Retrieved 2019-02-24.
  14. Mathur, Natasha (2019-01-10). "An AI startup now wants to monitor your kids' activities to help them grow 'securly'". Packt Hub. Retrieved 2019-02-24.
  15. Duffy, Erin (2018-08-05). "Some Nebraska schools are digitally surveilling students for signs of self-harm, violence and more". Omaha.com. Retrieved 2019-02-24.
  16. Fulton, Sandra (2011-05-24). "Students Have Privacy Rights, Too". American Civil Liberties Union. Retrieved 2019-02-24.
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