[iDC] Computrace query

[David Darts]

Absolute Software sells Computrace along with Absolute Manage
(formerly LANRev) which was used by the Lower Merion School District
in PA to spy on students - as you may recall, administrators used the
software to surreptitiously take thousands of private pics of their
students via their district-issued laptops http://bit.ly/c8GZwX

Along with being creepy, this software also contains a pretty big
security hole http://bit.ly/b5j1bX

For those so inclined, it should be possible to remove Computrace on
your own. On a PC, updating/flashing the laptop's BIOS would likely do
the trick. On a mac, reformatting the disk and reinstalling the OS
would probably work.

--David



On Sun, May 23, 2010 at 2:34 PM, Douglas Schuler
<douglas at publicsphereproject.org> wrote:
> I'd second the creepy descriptor! There are others...
>
> I wonder what other schools use the software and what the teachers at
> those places are doing about it?
>
> I would think the Chronicle of HIgher Education may be interested in
> this story as would the National Education Association or American
> Association of University Professors.
>
> -- Doug
>
>
> "Absolute Software -- Giving Control Back to IT" (from their web site)
>
> On May 23, 2010, at 10:00 AM, Tom Novelli wrote:
>
>> That's creepy.  If I were you I'd buy my own laptop and refuse to use
>> any computer provided by the IT department.  (Besides, I'm a
>> programmer who uses Linux, which I doubt Computrace would support
>> anyhow.)  People ought to stand up to this crap.  I've worked for
>> plenty of employers that trusted workers with laptops, vehicles, etc.
>> This is crazy.
>>
>> --
>> Tom Novelli
>> http://tnovelli.github.com
>>
>> On Sun, May 23, 2010 at 2:30 AM, Jonathan Beller <jbeller at pratt.edu>
>> wrote:
>>> Dear IDCers, a moment of your expertise if you have the time (I beg
>>> you to
>>> forgive the ignorance which the question below betrays):
>>> At long last (6 years) my institution has agreed to buy me a new
>>> computer.
>>> Long story short I asked to bypass our IT department and receive
>>> the unit
>>> directly, but Pratt requires the installation of Computrace, and
>>> will not
>>> turn the computer over to me without it. My preliminary
>>> investigation of
>>> this program by the aptly named company, Absolute Software, shows
>>> it to be
>>> spyware capable of grabbing real time screen shots from my computer,
>>> monitoring key strokes, and remotely deleting the hard drive.
>>> Supposedly
>>> these features are activated only in the event of the computers
>>> theft, but I
>>> do not take much comfort from such assurances. First is this
>>> assessment of
>>> Computrace's capacities correct and second, does it not seem that
>>> acquiescing to the installation of such programs institutes an
>>> unprecedented
>>> level of surveillance over our intellectual and sensual
>>> exploration as well as our very creativity. We know that in
>>> principle our
>>> every screen-view and inscription is retrievable by those who have
>>> immense
>>> power over us. If this understanding is correct, how can we
>>> tolerate that
>>> our liberal arts institutions allow a window open to the
>>> possibility of human freedom be closed not only for us but
>>> --should this situation become the standard -- perhaps for all time?
>>> Your thoughts will
>>> be greatly appreciated and also used to develop an arsenal to change
>>> our institutional policy should that prove to be the proper route.
>>> With thanks,
>>> Jon Beller
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Jonathan Beller
>>> Professor
>>> Humanities and Media Studies
>>> and Critical and Visual Studies
>>> Pratt Institute
>>> jbeller at pratt.edu
>>> 718-636-3573 fax
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
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>
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> Public Sphere Project
>      http://www.publicsphereproject.org/
>
> Liberating Voices!  A Pattern Language for Communication Revolution
> (project)
>      http://www.publicsphereproject.org/patterns/
>
> Liberating Voices!  A Pattern Language for Communication Revolution
> (book)
>      http://mitpress.mit.edu/catalog/item/default.asp?ttype=2&tid=11601
>
> Douglas Schuler
> douglas at publicsphereproject.org
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> Public Sphere Project
>      http://www.publicsphereproject.org/
>
> Liberating Voices!  A Pattern Language for Communication Revolution
> (project)
>      http://www.publicsphereproject.org/patterns/
>
> Liberating Voices!  A Pattern Language for Communication Revolution
> (book)
>      http://mitpress.mit.edu/catalog/item/default.asp?ttype=2&tid=11601
>
>
>
>
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