Company Offers Free Facial Recognition Technology to All K-12 Schools

Company Offers Free Facial Recognition Technology to All K-12 Schools

RealNetworks is inviting K-12 schools in the United States and Canada to download their facial recognition technology for free.

Safety and security is an increasingly serious concern at K-12 schools across the country and students, parents and faculty are demanding more thoughtful, creative solutions to keeping campus safer. That's why digital media software company, RealNetworks, Inc, is offering its facial recognition technology to all K-12 schools in the United States and Canada for free.

"School safety has become one of the top national issues in the United States in 2018," said Rob Glaser, chairman and CEO of RealNetworks in a press release. "We are proud to give our leading edge SAFR for K-12 technology solution to every elementary, middle, and high school in America and Canada. We hope this will help make schools safer."

At no cost, and for the first time, K-12 schools can confidently apply state-of-the-art facial recognition technology to better protect the school environment. SAFR utilizes existing IP-based cameras and readily available hardware to recognize staff, students and visitors in real time to help improve school safety, while concurrently providing additional benefits that strengthen security, such as streamlining entry, record keeping, campus monitoring, and guest check-in.

SAFR encrypts all facial data and images to ensure privacy, and all facial data and images remain exclusively within the school's domain as part of, or complementary to an existing school ID program. 

SAFR for K-12 can be downloaded by schools at www.realnetworks.com/safr/k12.

About the Author

Sydny Shepard is the Executive Editor of Campus Security & Life Safety.

Featured

  • 2025 Secure Campus Award Winners Announced

    Campus Security Today is pleased to announce the 2025 Secure Campus Award winners. Twenty companies are being recognized this year for products that help keep education and business campuses safe. Read Now

  • K-12 School Safety Trends Report Shows Training, Technology Are Saving Lives

    CENTEGIX, the industry leader and most widely adopted wearable safety technology provider for K-12 education, today released its 2025 School Safety Trends Report, the only comprehensive and data-rich analysis of school safety available in the wearable panic button market. The report identifies and outlines the top tech and legislative movements relevant to school safety in the U.S. and draws on data collected in the 2024/2025 school year through the CENTEGIX Safety Platform, including more than 265,000 incidents of CrisisAlert use. Read Now

  • Survey: Fewer Than 20 Percent of School Leaders Consider Their Main Entrance “Completely Secure”

    Singlewire Software, provider of solutions that help keep people safe and informed, releases the findings of its inaugural School Entrance Security Report, which captured responses from more than 500 school staff members across the United States. This research highlights the concerns and challenges schools are facing in securing their entrances and keeping students and staff safe from potential threats Read Now

  • Securing Higher Education: Combating Enrollment Fraud and Empowering Student Financial Success

    Higher education institutions are facing a costly and growing crisis: enrollment fraud. Between 2020 and 2022, the cost[1] of acquiring a new student surged by up to 32%, straining already tight budgets. At the same time, “ghost students” using stolen identities to enroll fraudulently put institutions at even greater financial risk. Read Now