school-issued machines
Stopped reading right there. Whenever you are issued a device, you should immediately assume it’s being monitored by the owner of the device. This goes for school/job/etc. The owner of the device will always be monitoring it for reasons of making sure you are using the device for intended purpose to making sure you aren’t using it for illegal purposes.
I know that, you know that, many know that, but many don’t. Imo they should be required to inform you, preferably with a splash screen on boot or something similar that says “monitored by XXXXX” or something. Especially for things like schools where it’s more likely kids won’t know it (and will be more likely to become privacy advocates for life from knowingly having theirs violated.)
The first thing I did when I was issued a laptop for a job was check for monitoring software of any type. The second thing I did was become extremely suspicious when I couldn’t find any. I suppose the rule is “most likely” or “more often than not” while also being “always assume”.
I might have the exception to this. I’m able to dual boot my work laptop, as can the other engineers in my department. So it’s effectively a Linux machine under my exclusive administration. The only request from my IT department was how to format the host name.
I’m still not taking chances with that thing though, even when on my home network. The rules exist even if there’s a 99.99% chance they won’t be enforced. I have nothing to gain from doing nefarious shit on it just to prove a point, lol.
