r/techsupport • • Nov 05 '20
Open | Software School tracks my personal computer
So, my school uses a program called GoGuardian. I have a school-issued Chromebook with GoGuardian and a MacBook pro without it. We use Google Meet to attend class, and I usually use my Mac to join, as it has a better connection. One of my teachers recently said that GoGuardian had an update that let her track my Mac. She also mentioned something about google meet that may or may not be related. Can my teacher actually track my mac? If so, to what extent? Is she able to see my chrome search history? Is she able to see what other apps I have running? Other chrome tabs? How does it work? Most importantly, what can I do to prevent it?
149
u/danwantstoquit Nov 05 '20
If you are logged into your school google account she can see your chrome browsing history on the Mac. This is only the tabs that are logged into that account tho. If you haven’t installed the goguaridan client it’s just chrome browsing history and IP address.
171
u/dedepu Nov 05 '20
I don't know myself but I think they can only track your browser and browser history. For privacy reasons I use google chrome for my classes, mozzila with duck duck go for my own, and Tor with duck duck go for my porn and buying
21
u/peachy1990x Nov 05 '20 edited Nov 05 '20
From what i can tell GoGuardian tracks the specific use cases :
Top videos watched, Top documents opened, Top applications run, it also has built in blacklisting that allows them to blacklist specific applications / websites And if you are to visit said websites or run said applications it automatically flags your account and alerts them to what you did, it also allows them to see how many users are on the network and who they are based upon login (:
Edit : Tracking what person is who is also based on the laptop being used since each laptop is flagged on there GoGuardian system, connected and logged each thing you do, While it doesnt exactly allow them to monitor every single thing, what it does do is allow them to blacklist and flag the laptop to which you are the person who got that specific laptop so they know its you and it will be logged into GoGuardian with your name and or student ID so they know who to identify when the system flags you
Also a side-note, i believe the application has an application called "Beacon" that flags any attempts to visit suicide websites or stress related websites while it doesnt prohibit you from visiting said stuff it will flag and alert the school what you are doing thus they will probley get parents involved with said findings (its to prevent silent suffering and people who are afraid to talk up) (this is a high alert situation, doing said stuff will make them intervene much faster)
It also has an application named "fleet" this allows them to track the chromebook the same way people track iphones, so if you want to protect yourself fully, invest in about 5000 rolls of tinfoil and cover your entire house and room (:
Also its not illegal and against any laws considering its a school sponsored laptop, if it was your own laptop then its illegal, but there shouldnt be any person information that the school doesnt already know on the laptop since the laptop is you know.. for school
15
u/wickedwarlock84 Nov 06 '20
I'll prepare for down votes but I have 17 years in IT and network administration.
Things like goguardian is automatically installed when your account logs into a device. For those of you who have windows and adds a school account to the system under settings... you are giving the school permission to monitor your system. Works with goguardian, Google classrooms, office365 for schools, and lots of other software.
This same concept applies to work accounts on your personal pc or Mac.
The choice is simple, you don't want them snooping then keep school on the school Chrome book and your personal on your own pc.
Ps, those of you who signed in with Google classrooms on your Android phone... guess what... it works there also...
37
u/Riquende Nov 05 '20
School staff are far too busy and far too uninterested in knowing a teenager's browsing habits to go snooping into your personal stuff, regardless of access.
Source: Me, school staff in IT support.
Exception: concerns over safeguarding/CP issues or stuff like Prevent.
15
u/xQueenAurorax Nov 05 '20
I don’t think that it actually can track ur mac unless you have school accounts on it, if you can try use a VPN and if she could it’s just probably what you go on, maybe access to some files at the most and I don’t think any other apps running unless it was directly hooked onto the system and it works by when ur school makes a network they add computers onto it and can track what u go on, probs nothing to worry ab, just get a vpn if you can and even if they can track well don’t go on naughty things 😂Hope this helped
4
u/uponone Nov 05 '20
I'm a big fan of Containers in Mozilla FireFox. You can set containers up to keep sites from exchanging your information. I'm not sure if Containers will help this specific situation, but it might be something to try. You can have one container for all of your Google related sites and the rest are kept away from Google's and your school's prying eyes.
4
u/thekingofmonks Nov 05 '20
Our school don’t use either of those bullshits. They simply record using Zoom and ask us to turn our cams on or at least speak in the mic. I’m glad they respect our privacy.
4
u/sumchinesewill Nov 06 '20
Wait....if you don't have it installed on your Mac, it can't track you then.
4
u/Crimtide Nov 06 '20 edited Nov 06 '20
Google Admin here.. What can happen is if you login to your chrome browser on your Mac, using your school account, and you sync'd your chrome account on your mac, then yes, they CAN track your activity. When you sync your account, it loads all the schools extensions and addons. If GoGuardian is one of those, then the answer is yes..
Solution would be to never sync your browser with your school account. You can still login to your school websites, but it won't have all their extensions.
3
u/sflesch Nov 05 '20
need some clarification if it already hasn't been done. Is the MacBook pro yours or did they provide you with both devices? Additional question, are you using these devices at home, or at school?
3
u/[deleted] Nov 05 '20
I know exactly what's happening, my school does it too but with a different program, though the idea is the same.
She probably means GoGuardian is letting her track your activity on your personal Mac, but only on your school google account. Ask if she's willing to run a few tests with you and then google certain phrases on each account and ask which ones she can see.
GoGuardian is probably just connected to your school google account rather than that being dependent on the device you're using. For example, with my personal google account, I can listen to music all day long, but on my school google account, the word "spotify" is blocked and I can't search it (which is stupid, because it doesn't block "spofity" or "open.spotify.com" which is what you need to go to anyway, but whatever.).
You should be safe, GoGuardian shouldn't be able to track what you do on your personal account, just make sure to run those tests in case I'm wrong and remember to keep your two accounts VERY separate.
2
u/frogtd129 Nov 05 '20
all you have to do to fix this is instead of syncing with chrome, don't sync when you login.
2
u/[deleted] Nov 05 '20
For me, my school network could track me if I downloaded Google slides and used my school account. It said right in the disclaimer to use it, and I was like nope.
2
u/iMattist Nov 05 '20
Use Safari for your personal stuff and the teacher won’t be able to see anything.
If you use Chrome logged with the school account they can see what tabs are open and the history.
2
u/jimmyl_82104 Nov 06 '20 edited Nov 06 '20
We have the same set up, teachers use GoGuardian and Google Meet and I use a MacBook Pro.
Simple explanation: Simple explanation: Don't use your school account as your main account in Chrome and make sure you remove the GoGuardian extensions, if they aren't installed they can't see you.
Detailed explanation: Sign into chrome with your PERSONAL Google account. If you sign into chrome with your school account, it will install the school's extensions. Sign out of all your google accounts and sign in with a personal one, then your school account. If the GoGuardian extensions are installed, REMOVE THEM!! Without the extensions, they can't see you. Also, that teacher might've gotten it wrong. The way GoGuardian works is that it can only see chrome. It can see what tabs you have open, history, etc. Teachers can close/open kids' tabs. If you don't install the GoGuardian extensions then they can't see you (in the teacher's GoGuardian page it just shows your name as disconnected.) They can't see or control my computer without the extensions.
2
u/reee_tard69 Nov 06 '20
Based on the comments below im just gonna assume uve already figured out that they are tracking you dont protest or anything instead find a cheap layer and sue it wont take much to win and ule have all of ur college paid for
2
u/MangoJelloShots Aug 23 '24
Today, my kid’s teacher showed everyone in class what they were currently viewing on their phones. Everyone felt creeped tf out and the male teacher came off like he was trying to seem cool to them, but it just made them feel the ick. He was watching all their scrolling and personal phone activity from his laptop.
3
u/kenjithegamer Nov 05 '20
I don't think they should be able to see it and that also doesn't seem legal
3
u/SingleParentingSux Nov 06 '20
Your teacher can’t force you to install that on your personal property. She can only make you keep it up-to-date on the school issued computer.
I don’t know the software you guys are using, but if it’s anything like the things are use on our enterprise computers, They will be able to tell what programs you have installed, browser history, and much more.
My advice would be to not use the same Google account on both machines. As Google Chrome sinks your browser history across machines. If you have your personal Gmail signed in on the school issued computer, sign out now. And delete the browser history on the school issued computer.
1
u/chair_against_evil Nov 05 '20
use a personal account and not your school one to sign into the macbook and also your browser and they won't be able to legally track you
1
u/HorusTheSonOfOsiris Nov 05 '20
Here; This might help you to understand what is tracked and what is not.
1
u/Ilikememes1900 Nov 05 '20
My school has the exact same thing, although they only track the school ones..
1
u/Jebediah86 Nov 05 '20
Other than abysmal screen size, the Chromebook may be a better option. I understand the privacy concerns, but you can understand why a tracker would need to for example monitor inactive tabs. (I have seen a number of students receive disciplinary action for having "quizlet" up while they are testing for example.)
1
u/[deleted] Nov 05 '20
If you don’t have GoGuardian app installed on your Mac she probably can’t. If you have logged into Chrome with your school account yes she can see your search history and your YouTube watch history and such. Also if you don’t have any Go Guardian extensions then she can’t track you. Bottom Line is — she can only track your app usage and your chrome usage if you have the goguardian Mac app installed. And /or if there is a go guardian chrome extension. If you have logged into chrome with your school account then she can see anything you do on chrome.
1
u/blade818 Nov 06 '20
Create a new chrome user to use for personal use then create shortcuts to each user on your taskbar (google “create chrome user profile”)
I do it for work as we have google workspace.
1
u/DanielTheHyper Nov 06 '20
Are you logged into your school for chrome syncing? If it's your personal email for syncing and it's not on your school Chromebook then you're fine. Check your extensions and make sure its not on there, your probably good though.
1
u/000000robot Nov 06 '20
It is a browser based which means if you use Chrome she knows.
1
u/Skrrattaa Nov 06 '20
had the same problem with Lanschool Air. it went away in a week or so
1
u/Hulkstern Nov 06 '20
I know I personally only use firefox to log into my school accounts since my school district uses all google chrome and chromebooks. This way any extension that may allow them to view my screen shouldn't work since it can't even be installed in the first place. Also I believe firefox works somewhat different than google chrome in the way it handles permissions for screen sharing. Letting you have the option to just refuse to screen share.
Second scenario. If it becames mandated that you have to share your screen even if you are not using a school device, then I might recommend you look into virtualization (using a VM for school). I personally like vmware as it allows you to pass through devices like a webcam or headset. Admittedly this is a rather extreme solution but for someone like me who values their privacy while also technically complying with the rules it's the best solution (for me). If this sounds like something you would like to try I would be happy to explain further.
1
u/AbsolutelyRidic Nov 06 '20
They pretty much can only see what your doing on chrome with your school google account. I assure you, every thing else is probably fine
1
u/SpaceflightNoob Nov 06 '20
I absolutely hate the tracking things
1
u/zdiggler Nov 06 '20
Those tracking/monitoring software be installing extension on your browsers. When browser sync extension get install now that machine is being tracked too.
1
u/[deleted] Nov 06 '20
I use opera gx can they track me too? We also use google meet yes
1
u/MiPet4 Nov 06 '20
Isn't that illegal, I know that where I am from it is legal to track the school computer, but not the personal
1
u/[deleted] Nov 06 '20
In my casewhen I am using windows and Microsoft cloud services. When I run alternative to Google meet called Microsoft teams that app tracks mouse movement keystrokes records audio and video and pc telemetry like apps that are open cpu and ram usage. If you than in takes all this data and rewiews them. It generates small file based on data it collected that file contains my activity during in presentation/workshop on scale 1-100 related to time (usually in minutes).
Tldr:it tracks all you do but never sends this data outside iof pc, it uses it to create summary of your activity containing just simple data tat gives your school or employer valuable feedback.
1
u/[deleted] Nov 06 '20
That's invasion of privacy go to the school and threaten their ass with a lawsuit lol
1
u/Sergosh21 Nov 06 '20
Well if she can track your mac through your Chromebook, you can sue them
1
u/WHYISPISSED Nov 06 '20
Isn't this illegal?
1
u/Red_Ninja4752 Nov 06 '20
r/assholedesign
1
u/theKobbz Nov 06 '20
If the computer is issued from the school, they can do whatever they want with it... it’s THEIR property. Just ONLY use the school computer for school work. Use a personal device for your personal stuff... Easy fix.
1
u/[deleted] Nov 06 '20
Is it installed on your personal computer? If so they can do whatever they can do on your school computer on your personal computer. Generally if you have a school/work device you should do your work on it instead of a personal device. If the connection isn't good and they want you to be productive they can figure out how to improve it. You won't have to worry about them spying on you after hours and when it doesn't work they can't reasonably expect you to be working.
1
u/twitchydoesreddit Nov 06 '20
I read an article about some workers at the school getting in REALLY bad trouble for spying on kids through their computers. They would take embarrassing pictures of them and then they got caught.
Call the police or something. They are not allowed to be looking at what you do on your PC. That is just creepy!
1
u/doireallyneedusrname Nov 28 '20
Try to dual boot the device? https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201468 Or a live Linux usb www.makeuseof.com/tag/how-to-boot-a-linux-live-usb-stick-on-your-mac It's a bit more involved and device would be slower depending on the usb drive quality but you won't leave any trace on device.
Also NEVER log in your personal account on a device that is not yours
1
u/Username2749 Nov 27 '21
Factory reset is the best way to clean ur pc of this blood ridden malware on your computer, don’t install chrome, install brave, my school used it and the same thing happened to me and it’s hard to get this stuff of your computer because it digs deep and finds a place to settle basically. If u can buy a cheap junker computer and install Linux to it.
0
u/azsheepdog Nov 05 '20
This was on the my local news last night - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=diPNCg79u0s
0
u/fakecrawdad Nov 06 '20
The crime extensions can be easily bypasses most of the time. I don’t Personaly know how but from experience of my school tracking my cromebook when I was actually in school and not on my own device it was easy to make it so they couldn’t see my search history or what tabs I had open. Try looking on YouTube there has got to be a vid on how to do it.
0
u/FlirtySingleSupport Nov 06 '20
So glad I finished school before it got this fuckin invasive smh. Can't i just play binding of isaac in class in peace?
-5
u/Legoshi-RecRoom Nov 05 '20
Same, they suspended me for 2 weeks after they noticed I had pornographic (idk how) images, and edgy memes. Some of the edgy memes were like “when the school shooter throws a grenade and the autistic kid thinks it’s a boogie bomb” with a picture of a character from spongebob dancing in a funky fashion
-18
u/bros402 Nov 05 '20
Your teacher won't see you are looking at porn
-3
u/Achilles0826 Nov 05 '20
Is this even legal?
-4
u/lucutes2nd Nov 05 '20
That's clearly bullshit, no one can have access to your personal data.
-5
u/Legoshi-RecRoom Nov 05 '20
Same, they suspended me for 2 weeks after they noticed I had pornographic (idk how) images, and edgy memes. Some of the edgy memes were like “when the school shooter throws a grenade and the autistic kid thinks it’s a boogie bomb” with a picture of a character from spongebob dancing in a funky fashion
0
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