Things to consider

Nowadays, Internet usage is more and more critical to higher education.

>From technological perspectives, it is not a big deal to deploy an Internet
content filtering feature into school networks. Many such products are
available.

But there are ethical and privacy considerations.
Freedom of association and expression are especially prized in academic
environments.

Before introducing Internet filtering to a campus, school officials and
their product suppliers must be clear about the goals of such a system and
gauge the opinion of faculty members and students. We should consider all
legal and ethical points.

Among important questions for school and solution providers should consider:

Why does the school want to use a filtering tool?
Reasons might include curtailing cheating, illegal file sharing, spam
mailing and spreading virus problems, and etc.
If we decide to filter student Internet activities, will individual
activities be tracked and recorded?
Who will be responsible for all archived data ? guarantee not to use the
data commercially?

Again, what are the ethical and legal implications of the potential uses of
the system?

A good campus network usage policy should address these issues.
Before moving to filter and restrict student and faculty online activities,
school officials should develop a sound policy first.
>From there, we can begin to consider what products and uses will serve them
best.

Related news articles: http://zdnet.com.com/2100-11-526510.html?legacy=zdnn
Related product: http://www.cyberpatrol.com/

  -----Original Message-----
  From: owner-campusmgr_at_bradford-sw.com
[mailto:owner-campusmgr_at_bradford-sw.com]On Behalf Of Rick Leclerc
  Sent: Thursday, August 21, 2003 12:12 PM
  To: campusmgr_at_bradford-sw.com
  Subject: Web page filtering

  Bradford Software has been asked to provide a history of web pages that a
student has accessed.
  Campus Manager does not currently track that information, but I'm sure
some of you have products
  that do (Websense, Vericept, etc.) What I would like to know from each of
you is the following:

  Do you have a product deployed at your school that tracks web sites hit by
students?
  If yes, what product are you using? Does the product track by IP Address?
Does it store historical data?
  If no, what products have you considered, if any?

  Would you be interested in having Campus Manager correlate this
information and store it with
  the student record in the Campus Manager data?

  Your responses are appreciated !!!!

  Posting back to the list would benefit everyone, but if you want to send
your response directly to me, please
  send to leclerc_at_bradford-sw.com.
Received on Fri Aug 22 2003 - 13:52:19 EDT