Digital Walls: How Technological Security Measures Are Choking Student Freedom

-- By ZoieGeronimi - 02 Apr 2025

Beginning in the spring semester of 2024, Columbia University significantly expanded its campus security through increasingly invasive systems. While administration claims that these systems were designed to “protect” students they, in reality, impose substantial limitations on student freedom. This essay aims to highlight the dual nature of security technology on campus: operating under the guise of promoting safety and wellness, yet in practice, encroaching upon personal privacy and constrains the freedoms inherent to campus life.

The Shift in Campus Security

Prior to spring 2024, Columbia’s entry procedures were relatively flexible. While swipe access was required to enter certain academic buildings outside class hours, gates throughout campus remained freely accessible to the public. It was common to see people biking through campus, or groups of children led by caretakers to the campus lawns, which offered a safe and welcoming greenspace. The formerly open gates, however, now implement a rigorous, automated tap-in system. The vibrant, open campus atmosphere has been replaced by tightly regulated checkpoints, meticulously tracking and recording the movements of students, faculty, and alumni.

The Machine Itself

The scanner most often used is a compact black rectangle that lights up green each time a student’s ID is successfully recognized. While I will not disclose my source, I have seen firsthand the data collected when students tap their IDs at Butler Library and Columbia undergraduate dorms. Immediately upon scanning, security guards gain access to a student’s university-issued photo, full name, UNI, email address, academic affiliation (such as law school or master’s program), and a detailed log of their entries from the past 24 hours—including specific times and locations. For undergraduates living in Columbia housing, even their residential addresses and specific room numbers become instantly accessible.

Though this information currently appears limited to security personnel stationed at these checkpoints, there is significant uncertainty regarding the broader scope and storage of such sensitive data on university servers. Despite claims by (previous) Interim President Armstrong and the Board of Trustees that this technology is intended to enhance security and promote safety, it constitutes a considerable infringement upon student privacy and autonomy.

The Impact on Student Autonomy and Privacy

The intensified use of technological surveillance under the guise of safety is not a novel phenomenon. In fact, it has become increasingly prevalent through various methods, including video cameras and other surveillance tools, promoted as preventive measures. However, this extensive monitoring has significantly transformed daily life, affecting not only students but also professors, alumni, and community members who would previously use College Walk to commute between 116th and Broadway and 116th and Amsterdam. The omnipresence of surveillance impedes their movements and profoundly disrupts their everyday experiences. Each interaction with a security gate serves as a stark reminder that personal movements are meticulously tracked—not merely observed by guards at entry points, but also captured and stored in detailed archives maintained by security firms, which has already been weaponized against students. During both the Spring and Fall 2024 semesters, the administration used students’ swipe-entry records to identify and suspend those allegedly involved in protests. Students are no longer anonymous individuals freely navigating a public space; instead, they have become identifiable data points within an expansive and intrusive security database.

Looking Toward the Future

As Columbia continues to acquiesce to the demands of the Trump administration, an end to bureaucratic overreach appears increasingly distant. Newly implemented security measures—including heightened guard presence, a ban on masks, and the appointment of academic overseers in select departments—reflect an intensifying atmosphere of surveillance. These developments signal a troubling trajectory toward a future in which campus life becomes less about intellectual and social growth and more about rigid control and invasive monitoring, surpassing even our current experiences.

This escalating situation necessitates a critical reevaluation of campus security practices. However, history suggests that meaningful change is unlikely to originate from the university administration itself. Instead, the responsibility for action increasingly falls upon the student body. While various forms of resistance, such as masked protests, have emerged, the ultimate goal remains clear: dismantling the oppressive structures that maintain this heightened surveillance and restrict our autonomy.

Conclusion

Columbia University’s new security measures reveal a troubling shift toward pervasive surveillance and diminished student autonomy. This technological encroachment on personal freedom is not merely a matter of increased security, but a fundamental redefinition of campus life itself. The policies implemented since Spring 2024, under political pressure and administrative control, have gradually turned the university environment into a tightly controlled space where every movement is monitored and recorded. As a result, the balance between maintaining campus safety and preserving the open, vibrant nature of academic life is increasingly skewed in favor of control over freedom.

Update: As of April 1, 2025, the latest system at the 116th/Broadway gates featured a handheld device operated by campus security. When students tapped their IDs, their Columbia ID photos appeared on the device screen.