Russian schools are compiling digital files on children
A system of digital surveillance of children is being established in Russian schools, one that extends far beyond the realm of education. According to a new report by the Memorial Human Rights Center, data on students can be collected through educational platforms, cameras, the school’s internet network, and monitoring of social media. Some of this information ends up in government systems accessible to various agencies, including law enforcement.
This goes beyond grades, attendance, or test scores. According to research by Konstantin Troitsky, digital systems can accumulate information about a child’s health, diet, extracurricular activities, psychological evaluations, and the family’s financial situation.
As a result, a fairly detailed digital profile of the student is gradually formed. The author of the report notes that such data can be used not only to organize learning but also to assess a child’s behavior.
The system consists of several components. These include the state-run “My School” platform, video surveillance, school computers and networks, as well as monitoring of children’s online activity outside of school. “Memorial” notes that these elements are becoming increasingly interconnected.
Teachers Are Being Enlisted to Monitor Social Media
One specific area of focus is monitoring students’ social media pages. The report states that teachers can review students’ public profiles, paying attention to their posts, comments, follows, likes, and social circles. In other words, the school receives information not only about how a child behaves in class but also about their online life.
Such data may be shared with the school administration and other agencies. The author of the study describes this as part of a broader system in which schools, regional authorities, and federal agencies exchange information about minors.
The scale of such monitoring is illustrated by the example of the Sverdlovsk Region. In March 2026, Deputy Governor Tatyana Savinova stated that 4.6 million social media profiles are being monitored there. The system is designed to search for prohibited content, signs of destructive behavior, and potential suicidal statements. If such signals are detected, the information, according to the official, is forwarded to education authorities and schools.
However, the author of the report himself notes that the figure of 4.6 million raises questions. He estimates that there are about 150,000–200,000 teenagers living in the Sverdlovsk region. Therefore, the exact composition of these millions of profiles and the method used to calculate them remain unclear.
The system contains data on the child’s family and issues
Another component of this system is the state information system “Prevention.” It was officially launched in December 2025. According to the report, the system was created as a unified database to collect information on children considered to be in need of special attention. This includes, in particular, offenses, running away from home, drug use, abuse, stays in shelters or rehabilitation centers, and situations involving the termination of parental rights.
The system may also store data on the child’s legal guardians and information about social assistance. Through the national identification system, these records can be linked to other digital profiles of schoolchildren.
The report’s author draws attention to another issue. When information from various sources is combined, individual facts about a child cease to exist on their own. They become parts of a single comprehensive profile that can be analyzed and used to inform future decisions.
At the same time, the report includes an important caveat: as of early fall 2026, there is no clear evidence that the “Prevention” GIS is already fully predicting the behavior of all children. However, according to Troitsky’s assessment, its architecture creates the potential for the further development of such a system.
Law enforcement agencies are being connected to the system
A separate section of the report addresses video surveillance in schools. Cameras are increasingly being connected not only to local school systems but also to regional or city data storage centers. According to the study, in some cases, employees of the FSB, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and the Russian Guard may have direct access to video surveillance systems from their own terminals. In other words, to obtain a recording, they do not necessarily have to contact the school separately or travel there to retrieve the footage.
The report explicitly states that among the law enforcement agencies involved in this digital infrastructure are the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the FSB, and the Prosecutor General’s Office. The National Guard is also mentioned separately. This means that an ordinary school camera could gradually become part of a much broader system of state surveillance. This is no longer just about security on school grounds, but about the ability to centrally collect and process information.
Children are also monitored online
Monitoring is not limited to social media. The report describes systems for filtering school internet access, monitoring computers, and the gradual transition to centralized networks. The author of the study writes that Russian authorities are seeking to unify the digital infrastructure of schools. As a result, information about what a child is doing in the school’s digital environment can be collected centrally.
The report also examines so-called “cyber-patrols” and automated systems that search the internet for specific behavioral markers. According to “Memorial,” the Center for the Study and Online Monitoring of the Youth Environment uses neural networks to track millions of accounts belonging to teenagers and young adults for so-called “destructive content.”
Children of migrants are monitored separately
Russia has also developed special guidelines for working with foreign minors. The document from the Ministry of Education, dated July 2025, was prepared jointly with the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Ministry of Education and Science. The guidelines advise educators to pay attention not only to a child’s behavior at school. Among other things, they suggest examining the child’s social circle, family upbringing, and activity in chat rooms and public social media accounts.
The guidelines also require teachers to document information about the child and involve representatives from other agencies if they detect signs that the child may be prone to committing offenses. Thus, digital surveillance in Russian schools extends beyond technical security and the educational process. Gradually, information about the child’s behavior, social interactions, family, and life outside of school is being added to this framework.
What “Memorial” Says About This
The author of the report believes that the main change lies precisely in the integration of various sources of information. Previously, grades, surveillance camera footage, the school’s internet, and teachers’ observations existed largely in isolation. Now the authorities are trying to link them together. “The child’s digital profile is now at the center,” the study’s conclusions state.
According to Troitsky’s assessment, in this system, the homeroom teacher is gradually ceasing to be the primary source of information about a student. The teacher becomes just one of several sources of data, which can then be processed by centralized digital systems. Memorial believes that such a model poses risks to children’s privacy and freedom of self-expression. The study’s authors also warn of the possibility of automated behavioral assessments and covert rankings of students.
At the same time, it is important to distinguish between what is already in place and what remains, for now, a plan or a forecast. That is precisely why the report specifically notes that a full-scale system for predicting the behavior of all children has not yet been proven. However, individual elements of the future system are already being developed and integrated with one another.
Ultimately, this represents a gradual shift in the very role of digital technologies in Russian schools. What was initially presented as convenience, safety, and assistance for teachers is increasingly being used to collect information about children. And the more such data is consolidated into a single system, the greater the state’s ability to monitor students not only in the classroom but also outside of school.
