Students erupt as San Diego State University brings in massive surveillance system even in classrooms

More than 1,300 AI-powered cameras have been installed across San Diego State University, monitoring students in dorms, classrooms, gyms and dining halls as part of a sprawling surveillance network that has sparked outrage on campus.The cameras were added as part of a more than $1.3 million upgrade completed by university police in 2024, according to records obtained by student journalists at The Daily Aztec.The system stretches across campus from Montezuma Road to Montezuma Mesa and includes cameras in academic buildings, bookstores, parking structures, recreation centers, and residence halls.But while SDSU says students are informed about the presence of security cameras, neither the school’s housing website nor its Guide to Community Living handbook mentions the system’s artificial intelligence capabilities, according to the student newspaper.The lack of transparency has left some students furious.“I think that this monitoring is a heinous violation of students’ privacy,” second-year business major Sophia Pomponio, who lives in Zacatepec, told the outlet before slamming the surveillance system.“Technology such as this spits in the face of students’ rights to privacy and freedom, and shows exactly how SDSU values their students, as currency.”Public records reveal that over 330 cameras are located in student housing alone, making up nearly 28% of the campus’s total surveillance devices.Huaxyacac, the university’s largest first-year residence hall, has 79 cameras installed as part of the surveillance upgrade.Tenochca has 36, and Chapultepec has 33.

In total, 18 out of 24 residential buildings are under surveillance.Despite their widespread presence, surveillance cameras are not mentioned in student housing license agreements.The cameras are manufactured by Avigilon, whose website lists features such as facial recognition, license plate recognition, object detection, behavior analysis, crowd-density analysis, intrusion detection, audio detection,...