Is My School Allowed to Do This?

[Archangel768]

My school did a similar thing. They used a program called Lanschool that they installed on every school computer which allowed them to restrict access to all sorts of things and it also allowed teachers to see what's on the screen and remote control the computer.

Then they started making everyone go to the tech guys so that they could install Lanschool on our laptops as well. The program would be running at school and at home. This meant that...

1. I couldn't access Task Manager (I key component to make sure I can fix numerous problems that arise when using windows)
2. A key logger was built into the program so if I did personal banking at home then they would have my log on details.
3. They have access to control my computer remotely and see all sorts of personal files.

This would have crippled the use of my PERSONAL computer, my main computer that I use everywhere and they would have invaded my privacy and had all sorts of details about me.

Me and my friends basically went screw you and never let them put it on there. They didn't bother going after and forcing us, although it may have been because we were only had about 3 or so months until we graduated and figured it wasn't worth the trouble.

It still makes me feel disgusted to this very day. They could have simply made us connect to their network and restricted what websites could be accessed from using the school network but, they were too stupid to think of that and instead tried doing the worst thing possible.

 

[Ren3004]

Well, both my school and my University required me to get a password from the IT guys to use their wireless. No one stops me from taking one of those USB thingies that mobile phone companies sell that let you access the Internet through them.

To be fair, you don't really need to go to facebook, twitter, etc. while you're at school, and unless you've got lots of free time, there's really no excuse for it. I hate seeing people using library computers to play farmville. I'm not sure that monitoring the computers, especially, students' laptops, is the best solution, though. Can't they just block those sites?

 

[Anti Nudist Cupcake]

It's their internet, you don't HAVE to use it but if you want to then you have to follow their rules.

 

[Video Gone]

Thats exactly like my school. we have to sign a contract and my parents have to sign it to say you accept the terms. prity much they can monitor what you do on the computers and if you bring your own laptop you have to serender it when a teacher asks to make sure there is no porn or an exes amount of games as well as other illegal stuff.

Games are illegal? Mother of god.
OT: Yeah, I'm pretty sure they can do that. As for whether they should be able to, I'm not sure. They have a right to make sure people aren't wasting time, but their method is unreasonably invasive. Couldn't they just block the sites they're worried about?

Then they started making everyone go to the tech guys so that they could install Lanschool on our laptops as well. The program would be running at school and at home.

OK, that whole thing is pretty horrifying, but are you saying that they made people install it even on computers that they never used at school? If so, that's... I don't really know what to say to that.

 

[Blow_Pop]

yes they are and I don't blame them. I know of plenty of schools who do that. In both America and the UK. In fact I went to a few in America that do that.

 

[Sodoff]

Your school sounds rather scary.

 

[thest3alth]

Buy a mobile wi-fi hotspot and watch your teachers rage.

 

[Voodoomancer]

One solution might be to get a USB wireless dongle. Lets you connect to the internet without the school wireless OR a phone, and if anyone asks you can say it's a USB memory stick.

Depending on how the network is set up, that probably wouldn't help at all. Any unregistered wireless device would get routed to a choke page telling you to register the device. So unless you could set it to spoof faculty access...

USB dongles use 3G phone networks, so it's like connecting via your mobile phone, except you're not actually using your phone.

Sure the connection will be slow as f*ck but hey...

 

[Heartcafe]

They are allowed to, they should be allowed to, school is not meant for Facebook, you probably have plenty of time at home for that, I do not wish to be a killjoy but you have to realize that there is a time and a place for everything.

Oak's words echoed... "Ash! There is a time and place for everything! But not now!"
[sub]I had to do that...[/sub]

I admit. I rofl'd at that.

Your school sounds rather scary.

Nah, not really. Just very paranoid. XD

 

[WanderingFool]

Is this a highschool? than yes.

Is it a college/university? than I dont really see a clear answer. But I would say yes, atleast for the computers. My college had a internet service that reqiured us to log on if we wanted to use the web on our laptops, but they didnt care if we were on twitter or youtube or anything. It was more so they didnt have people who werent students or staff using up bandwidth.

 

[Fleischer]

Couldn't they just block the sites they're worried about?

Blocking sites tends to be horribly ineffective. Since they are so many websites that provide proxy access, it becomes a policy that is easily avoided or ignored.

 

[Halceon]

Perfectly legal and valid. Schools have access to internet because it's a strong educational tool. If you don't use it as such, then you don't need it from them. Same goes for connecting to their web with your own laptop. It's a service with a single purpose. If you're not following the purpose, you don't need the service. If they asked to install such monitoring software on your computer when you're using an independent uplink, like your own mobile internet or connecting to phone networks, then they'd be overstepping their bounds.

I've probably not added anything new to the discussion.

 

[YawningAngel]

(Just to let you know, class ended for me back in June but this question has been popping in my head.)
Alright, so for about a year now, our school has implemented a "Big Brother" watch over school computers. More specifically, allowing teachers watch student screens and interact with them via their own desktop. They did this to make sure students aren't accessing Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr etc during school hours which make sense I guess. Of course, eventually some people at school found a loop hole by bring in their own laptops from home instead of using the public laptops at school.
But then the school decided to counter it by forcing students to register their laptops with the school before allowing them access to the internet allowing the school to monitor the activity of anyone accessing the school's internet.
So I'm wondering, are they allow to do that?

Note: I know someone is going to pop the question: well, why don't they use their own mobile phones? Our classes are quite small so hiding isn't easy and our teachers aren't push overs. If anyone is caught with a mobile phone out, they loose it for a week in the teacher's drawers and nobody wants to lose their phone.

EDIT: Ok, since many people have said yes, I have a follow up question. If someone is caught on Facebook etc, are they (the school) allowed to browse through the person's profile for information through said person's log in?

1. Install Linux on Laptop
2. Give to school to complete process

Alternatively:
1. Give school laptop to install malware on
2. Remove malware

Any particular reason either of these won't work?

 

[Heartcafe]

snip

1. Install Linux on Laptop
2. Give to school to complete process

Alternatively:
1. Give school laptop to install malware on
2. Remove malware

Any particular reason either of these won't work?

Lol, well for the first one they would probably ban me from using my laptop at school because they weren't able to install the program onto it. Unfair, but what can I do?

Second one, the program is the thing that allows me to connect to the school internet in the first place. It allows the network to recognize the computer and allow me to connect. (At least that's what they tell us.) -_-

 

[Raeil]

The answer to your original question and your edited question depends on your laws, but if you're in America the answers are (as far as I can tell) yes and no respectively. If you are using the school's network, they are absolutely within their rights to restrict outside access to their network, and therefore registering computers is an excellent way to keep access to the students. They are also allowed to monitor what websites you visit, and take action against you if you do not follow the Internet Policy of the school's network (which you should have signed before you were allowed to touch any school computer). As far as accessing someone's Facebook profile through a login obtained by monitoring the network, that's a violation of privacy. It's one thing to say "Student X accessed Facebook, so we're punishing him/her like this." It's something else entirely to say "Student X accessed Facebook, and we used his/her login information to access his/her private data which only friends can see." You'll need to check local laws, though, before taking this paragraph as the full truth of the matter. There might be contingent laws which have been passed in the case of a school obtaining login info.

 

[5mj7R7yf4Dwr3gdZyyu9PeGNwYjlNrjzuh3iTXQG]

So many presumptions.

Most industrialist societies have determined that people have a right to privacy, though it is debatable to what degree privacy extends to minors.[footnote]The Geneva conventions have established that privacy and full internet access are due everyone.[/footnote] In the US, kids usually have no privacy rights from their own parents, yet certain privacy rights when it comes to schools.[footnote] Faculty aren't supposed to be peeking on you in the locker rooms, for one.[/footnote] If your parents are willing to stand up for your privacy rights, the school may be more motivated to budge, since they're primarily depending on your lack of resources to challenge school policies directly in court. If you really want to push it, the EFF and the ACLU might be willing to help.

You have a number of options.

~ Keep anything you don't want tampered with in encrypted files, which enforces privacy. That way, the worst they can do is force them to be deleted, but they cannot force you to crack them open. (Without committing a crime, themselves. If they extort you with punishment or violence, that's usually a serious crime.)

~ Find out what spy software they're using, and disable it, hack it or exploit it. It may even be possible to tap into the laptops of your fellow classmates. If the software is known to create exploitable security holes (most of this kind of software does), they may be required to recall the laptops and registration system. Especially since China (the state government) is always searching for unprotected systems to zombify.

~ If they're spying onto your camera, see if you can intercept it and replace it with a loop of you working in the school library. If not, spend your off hours in front of that camera naked. Once done (assuming you're a minor), they're responsible for trafficking child porn (via WiFi and the internet) just by peeking. Otherwise, see if the software can be disabled or alert you when it is active.

~ If they're monitoring your internet usage at the server end, there's software that allows you to pad your packet throughput with garbage, making it much more difficult to detect what you're actually researching on the web.

~ Scope out internet privacy websites and the resources many offer for free. There are entire movements towards teaching people to protect their systems from prying eyes.

~ If enough of your classmates are similarly pissed about this kind of monitoring, start a movement to pad your systems with disagreeable content. Much like our response to the Internet Decency Act in the nineties was to tack on quotes of sex scenes in classical literature (there's quite a few), if you can convince your classmates to load their laptops up with gray-zone content (Michelangelo's David, Pictures from mass nudity events [http://www.spiegel.de/fotostrecke/fotostrecke-21411-2.html], a digital copy of Huckleberry Finn and so on[footnote]It's actually a good idea to be aware of all the things that others don't want you to see, read or know.[/footnote]).

Note that EULAs are not legally binding in any points are illegal in and of themselves. A school cannot force you to sign away your human rights any more than an employer cannot force you to accept by signature a non-OSHA compliant work environment. Private property within a state or a nation is still subject to the laws of that state and nation.

238U.[footnote]In the event that Escapist requires me to view a commercial before getting a code, I will simply not post. Depending on the frequency, this may temper or cease my future participation in the Escapist community. Apologies in advance, if this policy prevents me from replying to you when it is proper to do so.[/footnote]

 

[lord.jeff]

My college has something like this but no one really cares because we're smart enough to just do are school work in class.