On Fri, Feb 26, 2010 at 01:19:20PM -0700, Andrew McNabb wrote: > Having the ability to log keystrokes is not inherently wrong, but actually > logging keystrokes is.
Hello, Part of the issue here is harm done. This discussion has turned into trying to find the line between okay and not okay, and this has already been touched on, but not with the word "harm". In the original case that brought this discussion up, the monitoring detected that Andrew sent out a message that indicated he'd fallen victim of a phishing scam. This is harmful. It's harmful to the university and it's harmful to him. It's unfortunate that it was misunderstood that way (I know he didn't really fall victim, and it was only a joke), but this sort of scam can and does happen to anyone. No actual *harm* came as a result of the action taken by BYU's network monitoring people. With that said, it's still seems a little unsettling because they are reading and diverting e-mail messages. Any type of monitoring, big brothering, and censoring may provide security, but what a lot of people don't think about is that it actually can and does cause harm to those it is supposed to protect. Another BYU example that comes to mind is the block on Youtube. Yes, it is true that there may be inappropriate content on Youtube, but there is also a *lot* of educational content on Youtube. Arguably, taking those resources out of the classroom at a university can cause *harm* in denying educational materials to those seeking an education. Doing this sort of blind block on a resource seems a little too much like book burning by my count. That's where the problem is with censorship, monitoring, etc. The same system or rules set up in the name of protection ends up harming those it is to protect or even those it isn't supposed to protect. Looking for and attempting to intercept phishing scam victims seems like a very good thing to do with monitoring utilities. Based on what has been said in this thread, it doesn't seem like BYU actually uses its monitoring ability in any way that is harmful. They aren't logging keystrokes nor stealing bank information. Perhaps a shift in discussion would be appropriate. What about the people who are doing the scamming themselves? What drives them to do it? What gain are they looking for? Why are they targeting university departments? Understanding why these people do what they do may be beneficial in understanding why BYU does monitoring in the first place. Thanks! Jeff Anderson PS - please give me the benefit of the doubt if you think that there's something completely wrong with the way I voiced by opinion here. This is meant to express my feelings on this matter and is not meant to be any kind of example of anything that was meant to resemble logic. :)
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