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, and environmental monitoring.

University officials insist those capabilities are not being used to monitor students.

“The upgrades support basic motion detection in restricted areas to help alert staff when activity is present outside of business or class hours,” SDSU police public information officer Amanda Stills said in a statement to Mission Times Courier.

“To be clear, they are not used for behavioral tracking, profiling, or facial recognition.”

Stills said the university only uses AI features to improve system reliability, maintenance, and operational efficiency, and has intentionally limited capabilities to account for privacy concerns, campus policies, and community expectations.

The surveillance network’s reach extends far beyond student housing.

According to university records, the Conrad Prebys Aztec Student Union and Aztec Recreation Center each have more than 100 cameras. Love Library, Gateway Center, and Viejas Arena each contain more than 30.

When asked whether SDSU planned to post signs identifying where cameras are located, Stills said the university has no plans to do so.

“The university does not currently use signage specific to camera locations and does not have plans to add such signage,” she wrote.

“More broadly, cameras are widely present in public spaces and common work areas both on and off campus.”

SDSU is reportedly one of only two campuses in the California State University system currently using AI-enabled cameras, alongside California State University, Northridge.