Getting stranger by the hour...
Oct. 3rd, 2000 11:11 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
alexpgpA lawsuit filed by a parent in Exeter, NH seeks to have records of Internet addresses pupils visit using school computers declared to be public documents that are accessible to the public.
The plaintiff, one James M. Knight, has four kids going to school in Exeter, and since he was concerned about Internet use at school in light of the Columbine incident, he asked the school board to place blocking or filtering programs in place to restrict student Internet use at school. When the board declined, he asked the school for a list of the sites being accessed by students.
According to the story I read, the school quoted a price of $4,000 to print the list, and later was advised by its legal advisors that release of the list could be construed as a violation of federal privacy law. The information in question appears to be a list of URLs maintained on proxy server log files, along with a time and date stamp, the computer used to access the URL, and the quantity of information transferred.
Hmm. I don't suppose the school maintains password-protected user accounts. If it does, it would be child's play to match any particular computer used to access a URL with the name of the student logged into that computer. The next necessary step, of course, should Mr. Knight prevail, would be to really tighten down the security on the proxy server to prevent the inadvertent (or deliberate) alteration or destruction of such "public records." And of course, once Knight figures out that he doesn't really understand the logs, or doesn't have the time to go visit every site on the list, he'll start clamoring for the school board to hire someone to do the work for him.
And thus, educational budgets that already flirt with incipient hemorrhagic shock to pay for bigger and better administrative salaries will take another hit to make sure the student population is policed to identify aberrant behavior while browsing Web sites. If you think this is a good idea, just imagine people you don't like being in charge of the process. If you think that could never happen, you really need to make a date with a history book or two.
Cheers...
The plaintiff, one James M. Knight, has four kids going to school in Exeter, and since he was concerned about Internet use at school in light of the Columbine incident, he asked the school board to place blocking or filtering programs in place to restrict student Internet use at school. When the board declined, he asked the school for a list of the sites being accessed by students.
According to the story I read, the school quoted a price of $4,000 to print the list, and later was advised by its legal advisors that release of the list could be construed as a violation of federal privacy law. The information in question appears to be a list of URLs maintained on proxy server log files, along with a time and date stamp, the computer used to access the URL, and the quantity of information transferred.
Hmm. I don't suppose the school maintains password-protected user accounts. If it does, it would be child's play to match any particular computer used to access a URL with the name of the student logged into that computer. The next necessary step, of course, should Mr. Knight prevail, would be to really tighten down the security on the proxy server to prevent the inadvertent (or deliberate) alteration or destruction of such "public records." And of course, once Knight figures out that he doesn't really understand the logs, or doesn't have the time to go visit every site on the list, he'll start clamoring for the school board to hire someone to do the work for him.
And thus, educational budgets that already flirt with incipient hemorrhagic shock to pay for bigger and better administrative salaries will take another hit to make sure the student population is policed to identify aberrant behavior while browsing Web sites. If you think this is a good idea, just imagine people you don't like being in charge of the process. If you think that could never happen, you really need to make a date with a history book or two.
Cheers...
