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Tell HN: My kid's school installed spyware and I can't remove it

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Re: Tell HN: My kid's school installed spyware and I can't remove it

#391

Post by hexo »

tawaypol wrote: post #382
hexo wrote: post #381

After reading this it seems like only at least partialy feasible solution is qubes os and something like starting from previous snapshot so any installed spyware gets instantly wiped. Also, chrome is not allowed on computers in my home and will never be. I see no reason for chrome requirement by anyone. My main question is - when Chromebook is SO annoying. Why wouldn't OP just sell it and buy more sane pc and use san…

Chrome OS is the new Windows. Go to Walmart and look for a normal PC, you won't find one, just Chromebooks.

We dont have walmart here. i'm in central europe

Re: Tell HN: My kid's school installed spyware and I can't remove it

#393

Post by philamonster »

cameldrv wrote: post #390
mike_d wrote: post #280

Earlier quoted context omitted.

^ This guy is correct. OP is vastly overstating the situation or uninformed. Unless it was school provided hardware, management is done at the account level and accounts are fully isolated. Powerwash ( https://support.google.com/chromebook/answer/183084?hl=en ) the device, login with a personal account to make it the primary, and then login with your kids school account. Yes they will be monitored when logged in to t…

What law are you referring to? How could a device owned by the student/parent require monitoring while not in school?

Not the device, the student district-managed account that is logging into the device. Districts are bound by law (varying from state to state) at a basic level to filter content and restrict access in the broadest sense, on or off the district network. I've worked in multiple states for various districts they all had similar compliance requirements.

Re: Tell HN: My kid's school installed spyware and I can't remove it

#394

Post by nybble41 »

evilDagmar wrote: post #173
quadrifoliate wrote: post #116

> I bought him a Chromebook for schoolwork, but also for other private things. When we logged in... This is why you need to pay attention to the technology choices that you make, and that your schools make. Chromebooks are designed from the ground up to be locked-down dystopian spyware once you "log in" to them with a specific Google account. For heaven's sake stop buying any more Chromebooks. The correct solution he…

> Chromebooks are designed from the ground up to be locked-down dystopian spyware once you "log in" to them with a specific Google account. Nonsense. They were designed to implement required policies when someone logs into a managed domain. Unless you're logging into something like that (where disclosures have been made and consent has been obtained) then there's no "dystopian spyware" involved. Absent any domain man…

> they absolutely do need to disclose this stuff to the students

In this case the student is not the owner of the Chromebook. They need to disclose this stuff to, and obtain consent from, the parents before taking control of the device.

Re: Tell HN: My kid's school installed spyware and I can't remove it

#395

Post by squarefoot »

Take a look at https://mrchromebox.tech

If your brand/model is supported and you have no reasons to stay with Chrome OS, you can unlock your Chromebox/book and flash a full Coreboot/UEFI firmware, so that you can install whatever OS you want. Linux runs circles around Chrome OS just about in everything. I've "liberated" a good number of Chromeboxes so far and never had any problems.

Re: Tell HN: My kid's school installed spyware and I can't remove it

#396

Post by 0xBDB »

gernb wrote: post #246
evilDagmar wrote: post #173

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Chromebooks are designed from the ground up to be locked-down dystopian spyware once you "log in" to them with a specific Google account. Nonsense. They were designed to implement required policies when someone logs into a managed domain. Unless you're logging into something like that (where disclosures have been made and consent has been obtained) then there's no "dystopian spyware" involved. Absent any domain man…

Agreed, domain admins can also lock down Windows, iOS, Android, and MacOS. The school is effectively making the computer a terminal into their system. Their system, their rules. I know the OP won't like this answer but the OP should buy their kid another computer for their non-school activities. Of course they could also complain to their school/district to change the polices. Personally, I'm used to it. I have a per…

"The school is effectively making the computer a terminal into their system."

I agree with this. If you had an rdp / citrix / ssh session to your employer you'd expect them to control what's on the other end. A Chromebook on which you're using a work/school account is much closer to that experience than a PC, but with the lines unfortunately much more blurred.

Re: Tell HN: My kid's school installed spyware and I can't remove it

#397

Post by cameldrv »

philamonster wrote: post #393
cameldrv wrote: post #390

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What law are you referring to? How could a device owned by the student/parent require monitoring while not in school?

Not the device, the student district-managed account that is logging into the device. Districts are bound by law (varying from state to state) at a basic level to filter content and restrict access in the broadest sense, on or off the district network. I've worked in multiple states for various districts they all had similar compliance requirements.

I don't see how the mere fact of someone being logged into a school account could create such a requirement. If I log into the school account from a normal desktop computer, I don't believe that the school even has the ability to restrict what webpages can subsequently be accessed. Is the school then failing to meet its responsibilities? If not, then how could they be required to enforce this on a chromebook that they do not own?

Re: Tell HN: My kid's school installed spyware and I can't remove it

#398

Post by cameldrv »

evilDagmar wrote: post #182
magicalist wrote: post #158

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This response should be higher instead of the useless armchair lawyering :) With GoGuardian, though, I think device level management is common? It's BYOD but it essentially becomes the district's device (and all the other accounts disabled) until you remove the managed account. It can't happen by accident, though, it tells you very clearly you're making it a managed device. It sucks that schools are using enterprise…

No, it should only be the district's device while the district student's login is being used. There's still very much a legally-enforceable expectation of privacy for the other possible users of the machine. That the user is the actual owner of the equipment makes it pretty important that someone at the school system defined the MDM policies properly so as not to violate other user's privacy rights. ...but considerin…

Why is it ever the "district's device?" It's owned by the parent, it's being used at home. What justification does the district have to monitor anything that's happening not at school using equipment that they do not own that does not involve any of their servers?

Re: Tell HN: My kid's school installed spyware and I can't remove it

#400

Post by nybble41 »

meetingthrower wrote: post #389
mfreydavis wrote: post #86

I work for a school district (not CPS) with about 2000 deployed Chromebooks and you're likely running into one of two things. 1) You somehow 'enrolled' the device into the Chromebook management. This is hard to do by mistake but if you do, essentially puts the device under the control of the school district. It also uses up a license on their end. We only allow particular IT only accounts to enroll devices. 2) You're…

Agree. We have filtering on our kid's Chromebook, but only when they login as user to their school account. They have their separate account which gives them their own space. Certainly you WANT the school district to do some filtering for the school accounts, right? I mean, I think ours locks it down so tight that students can't get outside emails until they are whitelisted somehow...

> Certainly you WANT the school district to do some filtering for the school accounts, right?

a) No. Filtering (if there is any) should be limited to their own network or a school-issued device, not some device the school system doesn't own. b) Filtering only the school accounts is pointless if the student can just switch to a non-school account (or guest account) and access whatever they want there.

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