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Orange County Public Schools To Monitor Students On Social Media
The Orlando Sentinel reports that Orange County, Florida, is undertaking a sweeping effort to snoop on the social media communications of the county's public school students and staff, for the nebulous task of "[ensuring] safe school operations," and say they will use the software (at a license cost of about $13,000 per year) "to conduct routine monitoring for purposes of prevention or early intervention of potential issues where students or staff could be at risk to themselves or to others." The software they're using is from Snaptrends, which offers "location-based social media discovery." According to one of the comments attached to the linked story, there are monthly fees, in addition to the annual licensing cost.
Anyone with a clue makes their profile private such that only friends may see their posts. Most children are told explicitly to do this by parents because of creepy stalkers. These clowns are actually receiving/spending tax payer's money to stalk. Illegal on so many levels.
if you dont want people to know what you are doing.... dont post it online for the world to see! is it really that hard???
My question is where is the money coming from to pay for this? i want my teachers teaching, not spying
have you seen my sig? there are many others like it but none that are the same
My understanding is that most big corporations, and even many smaller companies, do surveillance on email and perhaps on social media as well, probably not for suicide watch but for their own purposes.
Of course, this could rapidly degenerate into "Deidre got detention because she posted a selfie on Instagram with a really revealing outfit." So the school officials need to have plenty of common sense.
lots of them. yeah, i know.
These minors have no rights and should be watched like the hooligans they undoubtedly are. Anything and everything possible should be done to ensure the protection of the occasional young prodigy and scholar that might pass through.
Even if the schools learn of problems, they won't take the right actions, they won't resolve problems and they won't help students in need.
What they should do is use the money to shoot the idiots who came up with this idea.
Period.
I am so glad they finally are doing what everybody is asking for. We hear a lot of complaining that all schools do is learn people to take tests. And now finally we prepare students for the real world. .
. . . . . . . .
Don't fight for your country, if your country does not fight for you.
Orange County parent groups to monitor Orange County Public Schools Monitoring Students On Social Media.
Do As I Say, Not, As I Do....
Anonymous is watching...
There are eight different Orange Counties in the US, in different states, along with one in China, about an hour north of Beijing. I'm glad to know that this is the one in Florida, not the one near where I live.
Good, inexpensive web hosting
1. They can accurately identify students and staff. Since no one has ever created a fake social media account that shouldn't be hard. Just require everyone to provide a list of all their accounts. No one would object to that, correct?
2. Software can accurately parse potential threat from random uses of keywords and not require excessive reviews of material that is innocuous.
3. No one would create fake accounts to cause #2 to occur.
4. No one will object nor have the cash to hire a lawyer if the school demands account information under threat of punishment.
I'm a consultant - I convert gibberish into cash-flow.
If the school monitoring student or staff internet activity at home, at the library, or one personal devices accessing non-school networks, I would be concerned. However, this is no different than a company saying that on their network and when employees are on the clock, they should be using the network for activities directly related to the companies interests.
Almost all students and staff have alternate access to the internet during the majority of their awake hours, so this is not a big deal.
The school is doing its job. Is there a better way to educate students about the value and practice of privacy?
This posting is provided 'AS IS' without warranty of any kind, implied or otherwise.
This would be a great opportunity for students to expose Orange County School Board's stupidity by figuring how to hack the entire system by what they post on their social media pages. They would be doing nothing illegal and it would make the entire system being used by the school board a joke. I bet by trial and error they could figure it out. For those who are a bit slow I do not mean hacking the software of the school boards system directly. But posting weird message that maybe individually does nothing but as a group would always set off the monitoring software.
Stop using social media.
"If any question why we died, Tell them because our fathers lied."
to all use of Facebork, Twatter, SnapWitter, LinkedOut and other silly 'social media' applications.
You never know when in 5 or 10 years something silly you posted will come back and haunt you for the rest of your life.
The Internet (aka Google) never forgets.
Yes, I'm a luddite when it comes to social media. I see no reason to tell the world things about myself that I may live to regret when I get older and wiser.
I got a Tat about 10 years ago. Really regretted it ever since so I had it removed last month. Erasing yourself from the Internet might not be so easy.
Gee, if "safety" is their concern, I wonder if anyone is willing to ask parents to fill out a questionnaire about any guns they may own and how they are keeping them away from their kids. I'm sure something like that will go over well.
Suicide is the third leading cause of death among teenagers. It's appropriate for high schools and colleges to be addressing this problem.
"Think of the children only goes so far" - but not as far as respecting their out-of-school life.
Knowledge is how to play a game, intelligence is how to win, wisdom is knowing what game to play.
I'm waiting for the first case where someone posts something online, gets attention from the school over something much less serious than suicide, drops social media, gets depressed, then kills themselves, then someone brings up the fact that if the school hasn't been such a nanny the fist time around the person would probably have tipped his hand online and his friends and family who saw the online messages he would have left would've been able to intervene.
Knowledge is how to play a game, intelligence is how to win, wisdom is knowing what game to play.
Anyone can use the Tor browser and that and a tiny bit of common sense will stop anyone from tracking you down and focusing on your emails. And just who in a school board is really qualified to judge who is potentially dangerous? After all psychiatrists readily admit that they can not predict violence in their patients. What it really comes down to is too many kids as well as adults getting a really raw deal in modern America and people who get trapped in bad situations tend to strike back at others. In some cases a life in prison is much better than the life of poverty they endure when free. The perpetrator is one half of the criminal act. The society that surrounds the perpetrator is the other half of the crime. Perpetrators sometimes change their ways for the better. Society rarely changes for the better.
If you were any more insecure, Alex, you'd be sitting in a rack at Sony.
Idiots obeyed Facebook and LinkedIn and used their real names online... and now getting burned. Let them burn!
See subject: From http://slashdot.org/comments.p... ?
Your "DNS lookup" b.s.? 1st: AdBlocking gains speed!
2nd: Hosts exceed SLOWER remote DNS lookup (prone to exploit via Kaminsky redirect flaw & 99.999% of ISP DNS != patched vs. it!) - how?
I avoid DNS by putting WHERE I SPEND 95%++ OF TIME ONLINE @ TOP OF MY HOSTS FILE via 30 favs!
Thus, exceeding remote DNS indexed lookup lag after query/turnaround for resolution (do the math binary search) over 3++ million records w/ the most efficient blocking format = better loadspeed + internal parse & no bloat in hosts cached in LOCAL system RAM via 2 kernelmode subsystems (diskcache & ip stack = no context switch overhead to usermode) vs. remote DNS for utmost in speed, efficiency + reliability (my program keeps hardcodes current) vs. downed DNS too.
Hosts = MORE SPEED + EFFICIENCY & ease of maintenance (via http://start64.com/index.php?o...) versus.:
1.) Remote DNS & hosts do so w/ less resource use + added on app complexity/room for breakdown & exploit w/ added CPU & power use w/ a local setup DNS (worse if separate system) + complexity of deny rules vs. hosts simple entries
+ vs.
2.) "Almost ALL Ads Blocked": Hosts are far more efficient doing more w/ less vs. AdBlock's BLOAT & regex complexity vs. hosts simple entries. Addons add overheads layered over slower browsers in usermode increasing messagepassing overheads vs. hosts in kernelmode (run some addons concurrently see what I mean). Addons do more added I/O operations + consume more memory & create CPU overuse + complexity (regex vs. hosts entries) bolted-on in SLOW usemode vs. hosts in PURE kernelmode via a high cpu serviced layer of ops by IP stack. Addons = easily detected by native browser methods + clarityray shuts 'em down (hosts aren't).
* Downmodding this last time I posted it too? Please -> http://slashdot.org/comments.p...
APK
P.S.=> Lastly? Hosts != bribed (like AdBlock/ABP to NOT DO 1 JOB IT HAD by default)... apk
Absolutely. Still, this will teach students a valuable life lesson. Prospective employers are probably going to pull the same sort of nonsense, so they had better start learning to watch what they say in public right now.
Also... I'm obviously building the wrong type of software. I'd love to be able to charge $13K plus monthly usage fees for scanning targeted people on Facebook, Twitter, and a few other services for scary keywords and phrases.
There is nothing new under the sun. It will teach kids how to bully without being direct about it; how to talk about suicide in a way a computer won't understand; how to mock teachers relentlessly while using code names. Human beings adapt to new rules--sometimes the adaptation is expensive and the result of painful lessons (much of the history of warfare, for example); other times it is fairly painless and done to avoid a teacher calling you in after school.
Social media is a great platform that helps connect people and bring them closer together. Unfortunately, when used inappropriately these platforms become weapons that will destroy teens and families. I have a member in my extended family who gets pleasure by gossiping, slandering, and causing conflict in all of her relationships. She has been in the family for 18 years. This individual started using Facebook several years ago to subtly malign family members. Last year we made the difficult decision to break off all contact, online and in person, with this individual. The simple solution to prevent bullying is to "unplug".
Schools are required to protect students against bullying and intimidation. This includes anything on social media whose effects can be seen or felt during school hours. It they don't/can't monitor and enforce this, they will end up getting sued by students' parents after their kids are bullied and the school doesnt respond as required. If you are concerned about privacy implications, then direct your fury towards state governments who hand out these requirements, not the schools which are required to execute them. $13K/y is money well spent since it frees up everyone's time and allows the school to pass liability on down the chain if/when it does get sued.
Seems that any kid wanting to have fun would create a dummy account and seed the system with lots of garbage. Sign up the entire school to radical web sites,
Not playing devil's advocate or anything, this is an interesting idea. In the same way that "customer sentiment" is gauged with this kind of tool, it may be in schools best interest to have their students' twitter and FB accounts tracked. What's private remains private if the user wants to, but if the student is writing in public "I'm feeling a bit suicidal" everyday on FB and Twitter and the school is only notified when there's a body at the bottom of a stairwell, then they might realise "oh I wish we knew what was going on".
I hope they're monitoring former students, so that they notice here when I tell them to go fuck themselves.
I remember sigs. Oh, a simpler time!
1) Facebook and Twitter are not school websites. What happens on them is not the school's business. Someone threatens another student, or you have some Steubenville-style jocks bragging about sexually assaulting someone? Turn it over to the police.
2) You have control over what you say. You don't have control over Billy Bob's Facebook postings, where he claims to have shared a bong with you at a party (that you didn't even attend)
3) Yes, people should be able to socialize without the state snooping on them without probable cause.
Unfriend
See subject: From http://slashdot.org/comments.p... ?
Your "DNS lookup" b.s.?
1st: Hosts exceed SLOWER remote DNS lookup (Exploit ridden by Kaminsky redirect flaw & 99.999% of ISP DNS != patched vs. it!) - how?
I avoid DNS putting WHERE I SPEND 95%++ ONLINE TIME @ TOP OF HOSTS via 30 favs!
2nd: AdBlocking gains speed!
BOTH exceed remote DNS lag indexed lookup post query/turnaround on resolution (do the math binary search) over 3++ million records w/ a most efficient blocking format = better load + internal parse & no bloat in hosts cached in LOCAL RAM via 2 kernelmode subsystems (diskcache & ip stack = no usermode context switch overhead like Windows' faulty w/ large hosts files usermode dns cache service) vs. remote DNS for utmost in speed, efficiency + reliability (my program keeps hardcodes current) vs. downed DNS too.
* Hosts = MORE SPEED + EFFICIENCY & ease of maintenance (via http://start64.com/index.php?o...) versus:
1.) Remote DNS & hosts do so w/ less resource use + added on app complexity/room for breakdown & exploit w/ added CPU & power use w/ a local setup DNS (worse if separate system) + complexity of deny rules vs. hosts simple entries
+ vs.
2.) "Almost ALL Ads Blocked": Hosts are far more efficient doing more w/ less vs. AdBlock's BLOAT & regex complexity vs. hosts simple entries. Addons add overheads layered over slower browsers in usermode increasing messagepassing overheads vs. hosts in kernelmode (run some addons concurrently see what I mean). Addons do more added I/O operations + consume more memory & create CPU overuse + complexity (regex vs. hosts entries) bolted-on in SLOW usemode vs. hosts in PURE kernelmode via a high cpu serviced layer of ops by IP stack. Addons = easily detected by native browser methods + clarityray shuts 'em down (hosts aren't).
APK
P.S.=> + Hosts != bribed (like AdBlock/ABP NOT DOING THE 1 JOB IT HAD by default)... apk
See subject: From http://slashdot.org/comments.p... ?
Your "DNS lookup" b.s.?
1st: Hosts exceed SLOWER remote DNS lookup (Exploit ridden by Kaminsky redirect flaw & 99.999% of ISP DNS != patched vs. it!) - how?
I avoid DNS putting WHERE I SPEND 95%++ ONLINE TIME @ TOP OF HOSTS via 30 favs!
2nd: AdBlocking gains speed!
BOTH exceed remote DNS lag indexed lookup post query/turnaround on resolution (do the math binary search) over 3++ million records w/ a most efficient blocking format = better load + internal parse & no bloat in hosts cached in LOCAL RAM via 2 kernelmode subsystems (diskcache & ip stack = no usermode context switch overhead like Windows' faulty w/ large hosts files usermode dns cache service) vs. remote DNS for utmost in speed, efficiency + reliability (my program keeps hardcodes current) vs. downed DNS too.
* Hosts = MORE SPEED + EFFICIENCY & ease of maintenance (via http://start64.com/index.php?o...) versus:
1.) Remote DNS & hosts do so w/ less resource use + added on app complexity/room for breakdown & exploit w/ added CPU & power use w/ a local setup DNS (worse if separate system) + complexity of deny rules vs. hosts simple entries
+ vs.
2.) "Almost ALL Ads Blocked": Hosts are far more efficient doing more w/ less vs. AdBlock's BLOAT & regex complexity vs. hosts simple entries. Addons add overheads layered over slower browsers in usermode increasing messagepassing overheads vs. hosts in kernelmode (run some addons concurrently see what I mean). Addons do more added I/O operations + consume more memory & create CPU overuse + complexity (regex vs. hosts entries) bolted-on in SLOW usemode vs. hosts in PURE kernelmode via a high cpu serviced layer of ops by IP stack. Addons = easily detected by native browser methods + clarityray shuts 'em down (hosts aren't).
APK
P.S.=> + Hosts != bribed (like AdBlock/ABP NOT DOING THE 1 JOB IT HAD by default)... apk