tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7694250198159092332.post6646870290575187357..comments2023-08-15T07:31:26.984-05:00Comments on FreeU: Big Brother and U, Part II: Is Your University Reading Your Email?testing05401http://www.blogger.com/profile/17388846145377195962noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7694250198159092332.post-17361058298013715542009-02-03T10:42:00.000-06:002009-02-03T10:42:00.000-06:00I want to retreat into Plato's cave...I want to retreat into Plato's cave...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7694250198159092332.post-73263428190019728942009-02-03T10:13:00.000-06:002009-02-03T10:13:00.000-06:00PS: Of course, the biggest problem is that these c...PS: Of course, the biggest problem is that these cases I cite encourage people to avoid discussing matters with people who have .edu accounts. This "chilling effect" is not good for universities. We can all retreat to encrypted web mail and only speak to others with encrypted web mail but why have university email in the first place? <BR/><BR/>Facebook and posting off campus is another university target. This is open to view for every one in the world (as the anti-feminist ranter found out, or the Valdosta student on Facebook). The only way to prevent university retaliation against criticism on the web it to shut your mouth and say nothing.testing05401https://www.blogger.com/profile/17388846145377195962noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7694250198159092332.post-61880863748367890542009-02-03T10:06:00.000-06:002009-02-03T10:06:00.000-06:00I understand your technical point about web mail -...I understand your technical point about web mail -- and I DO encourage people to use it rather than siu.edu Even so, many people set up their web mail to work through Outlook and so it is saved on their hard drives. <BR/><BR/>While I am not a network manager, it is my understanding that they may keylog through a "back door" on your computer. Normally, antivirus/antimalware programs would pick up backdoor key logging but couldn't a network get around that? <BR/><BR/>Most important, once you email something to someone else, you lose control because THEY can do whatever they want with it (say "weak link"). You have to trust them to not forward or print it out, etc. A specialist in electronic law informed me that you effectively give permission to the recipient to do whatever they want with it (there is no law preventing them unless there is attorny-client privilege). And if you email something to an administrator, all bets are off. The law apparently states that it is discoverable in court (as I learned in a T&P case). <BR/><BR/>NOTE: I hope to have EFF provide a primer. While it is heartwarming to know that a lawyer might defend you, we don't want to get to that point -- pro bono resources are limited, and few of us have the $$$ to hire a knowledgeable lawyer.testing05401https://www.blogger.com/profile/17388846145377195962noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7694250198159092332.post-61453796521299835262009-02-03T09:11:00.000-06:002009-02-03T09:11:00.000-06:00While the caution that Jonathan is urging is comme...While the caution that Jonathan is urging is commendable, some of his references (especially Murch) make technical errors that change the game.<BR/>If you connect to a private (non-.edu) e-mail account in your office (which you do with a web-browser) your messages do not pass through 'university servers'. And even if they did, they would be unreadable, because gmail, hotmail and such are simply webpages, and are encrypted. This means it's cut into little pieces which are random gibberish to an outsider, and transmitted that way. So, unless you store your gmail on your office hard-drive, nobody can read it unless you let them. (Caveat--if you attract the attention of the Feds, especially the nasty spy ones (CIA, NSA) all bets are off--they can probably crack any encryption you might have access to).<BR/>Generally speaking, however, your web browsing doesn't go through 'servers'--that would be an expensive waste of time and resources. So as long as there's a little padlock symbol on your web browser nobody can intercept or store your e-mail for later perusal.<BR/>It's probably the case, also, that most universities permit 'incidental personal e-mail use'--only a few (apparently SIU is one) don't.<BR/>Finally, any university that attempts to claim ownership of whatever passes through its networks is violating the law. First of all, when you visit a webpage that is copyrighted (and pretty much all of them are) the material is owned by the copyright owner. When you go to cnn.com on your office web browser, what shows up on your screen is still owned by CNN.<BR/>Secondly, whatever you produce as a faculty member is probably also owned by you (although this will depend on your union contract, if you have one, or on your university policy). But certainly articles you have written, books you write etc. belong to you unless you assign copyright to the publisher. The university's policy may say they own it, but that's only because the policy hasn't met a lawyer yet.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7694250198159092332.post-52152727604943120302009-01-31T21:24:00.000-06:002009-01-31T21:24:00.000-06:00Part of me is simply exhausted to read yet another...Part of me is simply exhausted to read yet another example of the omniscient and omnipotent You-Know-What strutting its stuff all the while at least publicly claiming to be an atmosphere in which truth is sought "wherever it may lead." On the other hand, to say and do nothing in a fog of anesthesia is to acknowledge that the last 30 years of You-Know-What has won, that what we its mere underlings do is nothing more than produce human widgets who write checks for the Post-Graduate Associations and receive their discounts for meals and tickets. Every last bit of attention drawn to these matters, on the other hand, provides a ray of sunshine and a ripple of hope, excepting our academic propensity for cliches. You-Know Whats can be what they once were, but only with diligence and honesty from those of us who try to actually pursue truth, as is said somewhere close to us, "wherever it may lead."Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com