Students have voiced privacy concerns over the county’s new wireless device registration process.
The “new Wi-Fi,” as it is often called, allows students and staff to set up their own devices without having to accept terms and conditions every time. It also requires an FCPS app or software to be installed on devices to complete the process.
According to instructional technology specialist Roxanne Kaylor, the new system will make it easier to track down lost devices and increases available bandwidth.
Some students worry that the system will be used to track them, but Kaylor says that the sheer number of students using the Wi-Fi makes tracking them impossible.
“Just think about it, how much personnel do we have at FCPS to monitor every single student that’s using our wireless?” Kaylor said. “We can’t track everybody.”
Kaylor emphasized the fact that students who obey the Acceptable Use Policy will never be tracked.
“We’re not going to say, ‘Oh so you’re going onto Facebook? We’re going to come hunt you down,’” Kaylor said.
However, the Wi-Fi does have a filtering system with “sniffers” that regulate students’ activities in order to block sites with prohibited content like gambling and pornography.
The technology team can also monitor what is being downloaded and access the MAC address of each device to determine its location.
Computer graphics, photography and robotics teacher Patrick Ander believes that beyond collecting the MAC address, reactions from people who strongly appose the Wi-Fi are unwarranted.
“As far as I know there’s no other data that it tracks; I think people overreacted,” Ander said.
Sophomore Quiana Dang, vice president of the Cyber Security Club, believes that there is little concern for students who abide by rules.
“As long as you don’t do anything really illegal or stupid over the Wi-Fi network, you’re fine,” Dang said.
Sophomore Hannah Oh, however, believes the Wi-Fi could have been presented in better ways to make it less confusing for students.
“It’s understandable because a lot of kids are going onto sites they shouldn’t go onto and downloading things they shouldn’t,” Oh said, adding that FCPS “should explain it better because this doesn’t look like something that should go on my phone.”
Junior Artoghrul Ismayil does not use the Wi-Fi for reasons similar to Oh’s concerns.
“I used to use it [the school Wi-Fi], but now I don’t use it because of the tracking,” Ismayil said. “Now I just use my 4G.”
Nevertheless, Kaylor sees benefits in using the system. Now that the county can better measure network access, “that helps us develop better programs and implement better devices that are wireless,” Kaylor said.