Securly, Inc. is a venture-backed student safety & device management software provider headquartered in the Silicon Valley. Securly was founded in January 2013 by former McAfee network engineers Vinay Mahadlk and Bharath Madhusudan. It was registered to transact business in California on July 19, 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. 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.
Philosophy
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.
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.
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.
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.
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. 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.
Reception
Teachers and school administration have given praise to the company, as well as services like Gaggle and Bark. These services help school shootings. 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. The American Civil Liberties Union alleges that Securly impedes on privacy rights in schools.
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.
