Students and parents received an email about the IOS app Saturn from the new Chief Technology Officer (CTO) Phil Hintz this past Wednesday. The app allows students to share their schedules and chat online with peers. The email noted that Saturn is not connected to District 219 and could pose a dangerous threat to students, specifically regarding student privacy and potential exposure to cyber bullying.
Assistant Principal of Student Services Antwan Babakhani suggested that Saturn could do more harm than good for students.
“If I was going to school, my goal is I know my schedule, my classmates and what I’m supposed to do so what’s the benefit of me putting my schedule online? Why do I need to know where everyone else is?” Babakhani said. “To me, the cons outweigh the pros. Over time you’ll figure out what classes you have with your friends, but with Saturn, a lot more people will know where you are. Even worse, someone can make a fake login as a student and now we have predatory situations where we’ve got adults that don’t go to our district who are now privy to students’ schedules.”
Hintz explored how easy it would be for someone to make a fake account and pretend to be a student.
“[A]s a person who is in charge of technology for Niles West, the way I learn about apps is I sign up for [them] so I can be in the know. When I signed up for Saturn, I was very surprised that it literally tells you how many users are a part of each school group. And since I signed up it still tells me how many new members joined the app,” Hintz said.
But some students like sophomore Wanda Sanchez argue that most people use it for the app’s ability to time classes and tell students what school work they have to get done. Also, Saturn now has the option to make accounts public or private.
“The whole controversy around it is due to user error because you can set your account to private. The email is reasonable but everyone you ask will tell you they use the app to keep them on time. I completely understand why they put that email out but doing something like banning it or preventing students from using it would be unnecessary. It is one of the most useful apps on my phone so no I won’t stop using it,” Sanchez said.
On August 14, Saturn’s developers changed the app to only allow users to connect with students if they add a verified school email. But Hintz still recommends exercising caution.
“Even with the new updates I still recommend that you don’t use it because first of all, you have to sign up for all the terms and conditions. Second of all, students sometimes don’t realize how much personal information they are sharing and what Saturn is doing with the information. And because it is a separate system there are chances and opportunities for a student to be cyberbullied because Saturn is not being monitored,” Hintz said.
Hintz also mentioned that District 219 already offers students safe alternatives to Saturn that provide students with similar features.
“The features on Saturn like the calendar and chat are also already on Canvas for all of your classes, so you don’t really need this app. You already have an app that does all that, it’s just that Canvas is monitored by parents and the school,” Hintz said. “If you really need to time your classes, you could just use the timer app on your phone. You don’t need Saturn for that.”
District 219 encourages students to be kind and safe online.
