News for hackers. Stuff that matters.
Re:Tell HN: My kid's school installed spyware and I can't re... by evilDagmar on Monday April 04, 2022 @08:17PM (#30913709)
> 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 management policies, Chromebook are basically fancy thin clients that make efficient use of web-based services.

That having been said, the OP either conspicuously failed to mention that such disclosures were made, or (and this I find to be much more likely) the school was dumb enough to think they don't need to disclose anything because like a lot of school systems, they have gotten the curious idea that they basically own the kids and that the kids have no rights whatsoever. Should that be the case I hope a judge spanks them soundly for it because yeah, they absolutely do need to disclose this stuff to the students or the first time there's a serious problem due to abuse of the monitoring system the school is likely to get very, very pantsed for facilitating child abuse.

Re:Tell HN: My kid's school installed spyware and I can't re... by gernb on Monday April 04, 2022 @11:39PM (#30915062)
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 personal computer for my own use and a corp computer that's managed by corp and is locked down. I don't complain the corp computer is locked down (except when it gets in the way of doing my actual job). For all personal stuff I use my personal computer.

Re:Tell HN: My kid's school installed spyware and I can't re... by ryan_j_naughton on Tuesday April 05, 2022 @01:53AM (#30915709)
That corp computer is owned by your employer. If instead you are a consultant who does work for several clients on your own machine, then it would be unreasonable for them to lockdown your personal machine. Instead, if they want you to use a more secure solution, they should provide the computer.
Re:Tell HN: My kid's school installed spyware and I can't re... by piyush_soni on Tuesday April 05, 2022 @02:55AM (#30916057)
In my company setting up the office email on our personal phone is optional. But if we choose to do that, they install this entirely new 'profile' with work apps and controlling software on that in the name of security. I chose not to install it, but some would surely do it. Probably no case can be made against them as they don't force their employees to install mail on their phones.
Re:Tell HN: My kid's school installed spyware and I can't re... by scambier on Tuesday April 05, 2022 @09:45AM (#30918904)
I did that for convenience (though now I removed it), but the work profile seemed to be well compartmentalized from the personal part, and there was a strong emphasis on this fact before the installation process. If they were to wipe it, only the work profile would be affected. I fortunately never had to try it...
Re:Tell HN: My kid's school installed spyware and I can't re... by staticassertion on Tuesday April 05, 2022 @02:13AM (#30915817)
Right, but if you add your account to their organization so that you can get onto their network dont be surprised when they push policies.
Re:Tell HN: My kid's school installed spyware and I can't re... by rejectfinite on Tuesday April 05, 2022 @08:49AM (#30918293)
No but if you add their MDM to your personal PC they can push policy to it.
Re:Tell HN: My kid's school installed spyware and I can't re... by 0xBDB on Tuesday April 05, 2022 @03:15PM (#30923594)
"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 re... by hedora on Tuesday April 05, 2022 @02:13AM (#30915819)
> consent has been obtained

Has it been, in this case? If a parent says 'I do not agree to this', then what? Will the school district swap the system out for one that doesn't require end users to waive their legal rights? Has that ever happened when a parent objected to one of these EULAs, even once?

Re:Tell HN: My kid's school installed spyware and I can't re... by withinboredom on Tuesday April 05, 2022 @05:45AM (#30917038)
Not to mention, consent can be revoked at any time in the future without reason. Giving consent once does not mean you have consent forever.
Re:Tell HN: My kid's school installed spyware and I can't re... by lalopalota on Tuesday April 05, 2022 @10:54AM (#30919811)
The school district should give the student a (locked down) computer. No waiving of legal rights is necessary.
Re:Tell HN: My kid's school installed spyware and I can't re... by fiddlerwoaroof on Monday April 04, 2022 @09:02PM (#30914032)
One solution could be to setup the laptop with a personal email account and configure the school email address to forward everything.
Re:Tell HN: My kid's school installed spyware and I can't re... by SamBam on Monday April 04, 2022 @10:43PM (#30914783)
If the student needs to use a Chromebook for school, that won't work. On my daughter's Chromebook, every app and website is tied to the account. It's not just a question of forwarding email.
Re:Tell HN: My kid's school installed spyware and I can't re... by staticassertion on Tuesday April 05, 2022 @02:13AM (#30915818)
You can have multiple accounts on a Chromebook.
Re:Tell HN: My kid's school installed spyware and I can't re... by SamBam on Tuesday April 05, 2022 @09:02PM (#30927153)
As others have mentioned above, GoGuardian is at the device level, not the account level.
Re:Tell HN: My kid's school installed spyware and I can't re... by staticassertion on Tuesday April 05, 2022 @10:06PM (#30927654)
Re:Tell HN: My kid's school installed spyware and I can't re... by fiddlerwoaroof on Monday April 04, 2022 @11:50PM (#30915114)
Yeah, I’m assuming a lot about the ability to do what you need to do without a school account.
Re:Tell HN: My kid's school installed spyware and I can't re... by eru on Monday April 04, 2022 @10:12PM (#30914563)
Not really applicable with the Chromebook, but in general I guess the safest thing is to log in to the school stuff only from a VM? (At least that way the damage is limited.)
Re:Tell HN: My kid's school installed spyware and I can't re... by drdeadringer on Tuesday April 05, 2022 @08:50AM (#30918302)
> Chromebook are basically fancy thin clients that make efficient use of web-based services

This reminds me of Asimov's Multivac home terminals where every user, in the comfort of their home, could dial in a query on their computer terminal and the massive infrastructure which is the continental-sized Multivac computer will respond with an answer.

Re:Tell HN: My kid's school installed spyware and I can't re... by nybble41 on Tuesday April 05, 2022 @02:59PM (#30923372)
> 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 re... by avs733 on Monday April 04, 2022 @11:34PM (#30915039)
> (and this I find to be much more likely) the school was dumb

It makes me cringe that this is an accurate assessment of how our educational system is run.