My school says that they can watch what you're doing on the internet, is this true or are they just trying to scare us?

[KittyFish62]

Is this true, or do they just want us to be kept from doing bad stuff? I doubt they actually can though.

 

[burdenbound]

true.

 

[ss202sl]

They can(and most likely do) track everything you do, and every website you visit.

 

[KittyFish62]

That's creepy and talk about privacy. Can I get an explanation?

 

[Multipack]

Every single thing you do online leaves footprints everywhere you go. Even using log free VPN providers isnt completely anonymous due to things like java script in browsers. Just presume nothing you do is private and you'll be good.

Yes it's wrong, but that's the way it is. It would be very easy for them to trace your internet footsteps sadly.

 

[rgd1101]

If you are using school property(laptop or internet) they can track you. read the user agreement.

 

[USAFRet]

That's creepy and talk about privacy. Can I get an explanation?

If you are going through their network, they can absolutely see where you are going.

No, they're not looking at you 24/7. But if you were to access a site or content on their watch list, they would track that back to you.

 

[KittyFish62]

So basically, they collect the cache from the browsers and use it to view what we're doing? I mean, sure it could be used to solve bullying or something, but still what if some creepy guy was working at the school and looking at inappropriate pics of someone? Then what? Ugh, that just disgust me.

 

[why_wolf]

sure, especially if you mean from inside the school itself. It's their network they can see everything that passes through it.

 

[USAFRet]

So basically, they collect the cache from the browsers and use it to view what we're doing? I mean, sure it could be used to solve bullying or something, but still what if some creepy guy was working at the school and looking at inappropriate pics of someone? Then what? Ugh, that just disgust me.

No, not cache from the browsers (although they could do that as well)
Their router and network keeps a log of IP addresses and URLs, and what IP address requests it.

So if you go to www.BigPornSite.com, that might pop up an alert.
They see what IP address and PC name requested that.

hmm....who is assigned 111.222.333.444? Oh, KittyFish62.
Send them a nastygram. And send that to the parents as well.


Actual watching you? If it is a school owned device, then yes, maybe.
Or not so 'maybe'...https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robbins_v._Lower_Merion_School_District

 

[Math Geek]

you log in to their network to use the pc's they have. now anythig you access online is tied to your account. they have to do little to no work to know who did what since you are using your name while you do it. they just simply log what you do and if anything rings an alarm they'll look at it.

unless the school is really small it is unlikely they are watching everyone ll the time but be sure they have the power to look at you if they wish. there are a lot of things they want to look out for and not all of it is porn. pirated material can get them in trouble so they probably also have stuff in place to keep you from installing anything.

plus if you are going somewhere that might bring some nasty virus onto the network, they need to be able to stop that. there are many other things they lookout for but this is enough to not tip you off to everything they look for. i spent 10 years teaching and helping the city with it's network security and i could go for days on all the things students did that either disrupted the network or caused the school system trouble in more than one way. saw the same thing in college when i managed our buildings pc lab. had it locked down to keep folks from installing all the crapware on the web and bringing the lab to a halt.

so it's not just they don't want you to play games or look at pron on their network. ssssooo much more to it than that

 

[KittyFish62]

Well, I couldn't go on porn sites no matter how much I want to as they have a web filter on their network. I doubt any virus could get into their network though or on the computers either since they're macs (don't assume I'm an apple fanboy) and we have guest accounts that everyone signs into. I wonder who thought of the idea of macs they must be a huge apple fanboy or something lol. What a waste of money.

 

[USAFRet]

Well, I couldn't go on porn sites no matter how much I want to as they have a web filter on their network. I doubt any virus could get into their network though or on the computers either since they're macs (don't assume I'm an apple fanboy) and we have guest accounts that everyone signs into. I wonder who thought of the idea of macs they must be a huge apple fanboy or something lol. What a waste of money.

Macs are not immune. Neither is their network.

 

[KittyFish62]

I didn't say that they were immune, I hate macs. It's just that with the guest account all of the files you put on to there will be deleted as soon as you log out.

 

[Math Geek]

oh yah mac does not mean it is immune. something you probably never even considered is teacher accounts. they are almost as limited as student ones since teachers are just as stupid with computers as anyone else. we had teachers bringing all kinds of nasty stuff onto the network. virus, malware, spyware, pirated programs cause the city did not have it and they wanted to use it and so on.

sucks but as i have said many times, 99% of the rules in place are not there because someone sat around and tried to think of things to outlaw. they are in place as a reaction to something already done. so think about all the stuff that is blocked or otherwise not allowed (my school even blocked espn.com!!) and know there is a reason for every single block in place. someone did something stupid forcing the school to react.

 

[Multipack]

Haha sounds like teachers were worse than the kids..

 

[USAFRet]

Haha sounds like teachers were worse than the kids..

Just like at work.
Bosses worse than the employees.

One job I had, the boss spent all day on ebay. He would pop out of his cave once or twice a day.

 

[Karadjgne]

The school isn't trying to invade your privacy, it's trying to cover its own ash. It'll log every Addy attempt, every link, every place somebody tries to go, just so it can tell parents that their kids are not allowed to access any unwanted websites, and yes your kid went to a minecraft site which had buried porn sites attached, but we stopped it. Please don't sue us, we are doing our best to guarantee your children's safety.

It also allows IT to track down any possible malicious sofware/malware that might be buried in links or dl'd programs and squish it at the source before all the schools private info (including your grades and/or financial info) becomes sport for anyone with an agenda.

 

[Elysian890]

Yup they can see it, maybe even your screen if there's some kind of control software installed (like those in some internet cafes) so the network admin can see what's on your screen all the time.
If you're concerned about your privacy, first stop using their computers, maybe get your own laptop and use your mobile network to browse whatever you want without them knowing, get a good firewall and connect to a VPN/Proxy if you want an extra security layer

 

[Math Geek]

in many ways yes. the kids had more knowledge which was dangerous, but most of the teachers had no knowledge yet slightly better access. made them more dangerous than the kids for sure. i got in trouble by constantly going around their limits and letting me do what i needed to do. after a few times they just gave me unlimited access and made me part of the team. was that or fire me they figured i could help since i could get around all their blocks.

much stronger network once i was there to show them all the ways in. i knew more than the kids so could help combat what they were doing to get around the blocks.

 

[Multipack]

Haha sounds like teachers were worse than the kids..

Just like at work.
Bosses worse than the employees.

One job I had, the boss spent all day on ebay. He would pop out of his cave once or twice a day.

Ha seems a common theme here. With great power comes no responsibility. I would compare it to the goverment and its citizens but that'd be a bit of a flame comment!

 

[Multipack]

in many ways yes. the kids had more knowledge which was dangerous, but most of the teachers had no knowledge yet slightly better access. made them more dangerous than the kids for sure. i got in trouble by constantly going around their limits and letting me do what i needed to do. after a few times they just gave me unlimited access and made me part of the team. was that or fire me they figured i could help since i could get around all their blocks.

much stronger network once i was there to show them all the ways in. i knew more than the kids so could help combat what they were doing to get around the blocks.

Is like the way black hats make the best white hats I suppose.

 

[KittyFish62]

lmao, I'm in middle school and I know more about the computers more than the teachers XD. They think macs are soooooooooooooooooooooooooo better, just because they can use the apple tv w/ airplay to broadcast the lesson. Why not just get a REGULAR PC that costs much less than a Mac with an apple logo, AND one that has hdmi so that you can easily hook up to the tv in probably less than 10 minutes time... people these days...

 

[USAFRet]

lmao, I'm in middle school and I know more about the computers more than the teachers XD. They think macs are soooooooooooooooooooooooooo better, just because they can use the apple tv w/ airplay to broadcast the lesson. Why not just get a REGULAR PC that costs much less than a Mac with an apple logo, AND one that has hdmi so that you can easily hook up to the tv in probably less than 10 minutes time... people these days...

Just a word...not all teachers, nor IT admins....are actually as clueless as you suppose.
Some of my grandkids are in middle school and higher. They think they know everything, but.....:lol:

People like me (and others around here) built the internet. We know why and how things work.

 

[KittyFish62]

Lol I used to think the same way (and I still do) a few years ago, until I met a classmate that was introducing to me so many ideas. GPU,CPU,APU pci, what?! Since when was this a thing XD?