(Schools)在法律上不允许学校通过学校发放的笔记本电脑或网络摄像头监视学生。但是，已经报告了几起学校或学院安装间谍软件或要求父母在孩子的设备上安装间谍软件的案例。
还记得导致Robbins 诉 Lower Merion 学区联邦集体诉讼(Robbins v. Lower Merion School District federal class action lawsuit)的“WebcamGate”丑闻吗？好吧，最后学校支付了惊人的 610,000 美元来解决那起诉讼，因为他们被发现在学生家中秘密监视学生( secretly spying on students in the privacy of their homes)。
学校当局通过笔记本电脑中嵌入的网络摄像头做到了这一点。秘密拍摄了超过 66,000 张图像。
为什么学校在学校发行的笔记本电脑上安装间谍软件(Why Schools Install Spyware On School-Issued Laptops)
学校发行的笔记本电脑通常以高额补贴的价格出售，有时甚至是免费赠送的。但是，它们带来了未解决的道德问题和实际成本。
为监视学生而安装的一些软件和程序会自动将他们的数据发送到云端，而且通常在他们或其家人不知情或不同意的情况下。
这种技术还使学校当局或教师可以监视校园内或家中的任何学生，无论他们是否使用计算机。教师可以通过在学生不知情或不同意的情况下查看他们的屏幕来了解他们在做什么，但他们也可以看到学生在特定网站或学校作业上花费了多少时间。
校长还可以查看教师的笔记本电脑屏幕，了解他们浏览互联网的时间、访问的网站等等。
您的学校发行的笔记本电脑上有间谍软件吗？(Does Your School-Issued Laptop Has Spyware On It?)
与其等到您学校的校长指责您在家中的“不当行为”，您还可以检查您自己的学校颁发的计算机是否存在间谍软件，并(check your own school-issued computer for spyware and remove it)使用我们将在下面与您分享的一些技巧将其删除。
检查启动是否有任何间谍软件或可疑软件(Check In StartUp For Any Spyware Or Suspicious Software)
- 转到计算机上的搜索栏并输入Msconfig并单击System Configuration。
- 单击启动选项卡(Startup tab)，然后单击打开任务管理器(Open Task Manager)。
- 如果您看到任何占用大量计算机内存的可疑程序或软件，请暂时终止其进程，然后在线运行搜索以确认它是否是恶意的。如果是，请卸载它。
检查 TEMP 文件夹是否有间谍软件(Check The TEMP Folder For Spyware)
TEMP文件夹可帮助您的计算机轻松启动网站或程序，但恶意软件通常隐藏在该文件夹中。因此，如果您看到可疑文件，请将其删除。
- 打开文件资源管理器(File Explorer)并单击本地磁盘 C:(Local Disk C:)。
- 单击Windows并找到TEMP 文件夹(TEMP folder)。
- 您可以随时删除TEMP文件夹中的所有内容，以确保恶意软件也被删除。它只是保存临时数据，因此不会对您的计算机系统造成任何实质性损害。
从控制面板检查间谍软件(Check For Spyware From Control Panel)
- 单击Start > Control Panel > Programs.
- 滚动浏览程序(Programs)以查看是否有任何不熟悉的软件。如果有一个看起来很奇怪的程序，您可以在搜索引擎中检查它的名称以确认它是否合法。如果是间谍软件，请右键单击并选择卸载(Uninstall)。
运行防病毒或防恶意软件扫描(Run An Antivirus Or Anti-Malware Scan)
如果您的笔记本电脑具有强大的防病毒或反恶意软件程序(strong antivirus or anti-malware program)，请运行扫描，以便它可以检查和挑选任何恶意程序，并扫描系统中存在的间谍软件。其他恶意软件，如远程访问特洛伊木马(Remote Access Trojans)( RAT )、键盘记录程序或用于监视您的VNC 应用程序也可以通过扫描获取。(VNC apps)
确保(Make)您的安全软件的更新实用程序具有最新的定义，这有助于更新恶意软件定义以进行成功扫描。
使用软件删除顽固的程序(Use Software To Remove Stubborn Programs)
如果您遇到顽固的程序拒绝从程序管理器(Programs Manager)中删除，请下载并安装第三方软件并在安全模式下(Safe Mode)运行以卸载间谍软件或监控软件(uninstall the spyware or monitoring software)。一个很好的工具是RevoUninstaller 或 PC Decrapifier(RevoUninstaller or PC Decrapifier)。
结论(Conclusion)
如果您发现您的学校发放的笔记本电脑被用于非法监视您，那么一旦您收集到确凿的证据，您拥有的最佳选择之一就是向警方跟进您的索赔。
How To Know If Your School-Issued Laptop Has Spyware Installed
Ѕchools aren’t legally allowed to spy on their students through school-issued laptops or webcams for that matter. However, there have been several repоrted caseѕ where schools or collegеs install spyware, or require parents tо рut spyware on their children’s devices.
Remember the “WebcamGate” scandal that led to the Robbins v. Lower Merion School District federal class action lawsuit? Well, that ended with the school paying a staggering $610,000 settlement to settle that suit, after they were caught secretly spying on students in the privacy of their homes.
Authorities from the school did this via webcams embedded in the laptops. Over 66,000 images had been secretly taken.
Why Schools Install Spyware On School-Issued Laptops
School-issued laptops are often available for a highly subsidized price, sometimes even given for free. They come with unresolved ethical questions and real costs though.
Some software and programs installed to spy on the students sends their data automatically to the cloud, and often without their knowledge or consent, or that of their families.
Such technology also makes it possible for school authorities or teachers to spy on any of the students on campus or at home, whether or not they’re using the computers. Teachers can see what students are doing by viewing their screens without their knowledge or consent, but they can also see how much time the students spend on particular websites or school assignments.
School principals can also view the teachers’ laptop screens and see how much time they’ve spent on browsing the internet, the sites they visit and a lot more.
Does Your School-Issued Laptop Has Spyware On It?
Instead of waiting until the principal at your school accuses you of “improper behavior” at home, you can check your own school-issued computer for spyware and remove it using a few tips we’ll share with you below.
Check In StartUp For Any Spyware Or Suspicious Software
- Go to the search bar on your computer and type Msconfig and click System Configuration.
- Click the Startup tab and then click Open Task Manager.
- If you see any suspicious program or software that’s hogging a significant amount of your computer’s memory, terminate its processes temporarily, and then run a search online to confirm whether or not it’s malicious. If it is, uninstall it.
Check The TEMP Folder For Spyware
The TEMP folder helps your computer to bring up a website or program easily, but malware often hides within the folder. So if you see suspicious files, delete them.
- Open File Explorer and click on Local Disk C:.
- Click Windows and find the TEMP folder.
- You can always delete everything in the TEMP folder just to ensure malicious software are removed too. It just holds temporary data so it won’t really cause any substantial harm to your computer’s system.
Check For Spyware From Control Panel
- Click Start > Control Panel > Programs.
- Scroll through the Programs to see if there’s any unfamiliar software. If there’s a strange-looking program, you can check its name in a search engine to confirm whether it’s legit or not. If it’s spyware, right-click and select Uninstall.
Run An Antivirus Or Anti-Malware Scan
If your laptop has a strong antivirus or anti-malware program, run a scan so it can check for and pick on any malicious programs, and scan for spyware present in the system. Other malicious software like Remote Access Trojans (RAT), keyloggers, or VNC apps used to spy on you can also be picked up by the scans.
Make sure your security software’s update utility has the most recent definitions, which helps update the malware definitions for a successful scan.
Use Software To Remove Stubborn Programs
If you come across stubborn programs that refuse to be removed from the Programs Manager, download and install third-party software and run it in Safe Mode to uninstall the spyware or monitoring software. A good tool for this would be RevoUninstaller or PC Decrapifier.
Conclusion
If you find out that your school-issued laptop is being used to illegally spy on you, one of the best options you have once you have gathered solid evidence is to follow up your claims with the police.
