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It discusses software being marketed by several companies to UK (and US) schools to monitor the internet communications of pupils, some as young as four, for signs of (religious) "radicalisation."
The software simplistically monitors for lists of words and phrases such as "Jihobbyist," dodgy organisations, and the names of various ISIS propaganda videos.
For example: John Cantlie, War on Islam, Jihobbyist, Pogrom, YODO, Storm Front, Kuffs, Message to America.
When use of such a term is detected, a screenshot can be forwarded to a teacher. Perhaps the teacher should then dial 999 and ask for the police?
A jihobbyist is someone who sympathises, but rather than getting themselves stuck somewhere warm and sunny like Iraq or Syria, they instead only cheer them on from the comfort of their own home. You learn something new every day.
I suspect some companies are going to make a lot of money out of this — and young children are going to have much fun winding up the teachers.
Original Submission
(Score: 2) by maxwell demon on Saturday June 13 2015, @06:43PM
So when communicating from school, be careful not to misspell "Yoda". ;-)
The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.
(Score: 4, Informative) by BsAtHome on Saturday June 13 2015, @06:54PM
You have been flagged,
Don't be alarmed and please stay calm and at your computer, A team of professionals has been dispatched to a{cc,ss}ess the situation and inform you of your potential.
Please note that interference with the investigation will result in criminal charges against you for obstruction of illegal interference with a private citizen at a private property by a non-specified governmental organisation.
No need to be alarmed. We are here to keep you safe.
(Score: 1, Disagree) by Ethanol-fueled on Saturday June 13 2015, @07:23PM
Jesus Christ -- K-12 students shouldn't even be given the opportunity to look that shit up on school computers. Student-facing networks and internet in K-12 schools should be locked the fuck down except for a whitelist of a handful of educational sites like Wikipedia, dictionaries and thesauruses, basically a least-privilege listing of everything a student needs to do their research with exceptions possibly vetted and added on a case-by-case basis.
Yeah, yeah, Of course the smarter ones are going to figure out ways around that. That's not my fucking point. And I know that Wikipedia is not suitable for proper research, but at least it's educational. My point is that students shouldn't be allowed to fuck off on Facebook or Twitter or Jihadbook or ISISchan at school.
(Score: 2) by CirclesInSand on Sunday June 14 2015, @02:44PM
If you try to lock down school computers, you will end up with students who are more educated about the reality of computer security than you are comfortable with.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday June 14 2015, @10:23PM
I am comfortable with students learning about computer security.
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday June 13 2015, @07:23PM
WTH? Are they picking on the white supremcists now too? Storm Front [wikipedia.org] is all about the neo-nazis and those good ole boys hate the "ragheads." Are they going to put UKIP [telegraph.co.uk] on that list too?
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Ethanol-fueled on Saturday June 13 2015, @07:45PM
They gotta throw a "White" one in there for the sake of political correctness. Funny thing is that it was England's political correctness that led to their infestation of walking Durka-Durka bombs (and hence, this situation) in the first place.
Software in place or not, students should not be able to view StormFront at K-12 schools and if they can and do so willingly then they are asking for it, because at that point they might as well be browsing porn.
Jesus, do K-12 schools nowadays just let students do whatever the fuck they want nowadays?
(Score: 2) by mojo chan on Monday June 15 2015, @11:58AM
Strange, I hadn't noticed the waves of suicide bombings in the UK resulting from this infestation of "Durka-Durka bombs". Can you perhaps point to some news stories?
We had one suicide bombing on the tube, and another couple that failed due to stupidity. That's it. The IRA was much more effective and deadly, mostly because they were not stupid enough to kill themselves and take all the valuable knowledge about blowing stuff up to the grave every time. Well, that and they were just generally less stupid because they spent less time praying for 72 virgins and more learning how to commit acts of terror properly.
Islamic terrorism in the UK is a bad joke.
const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
(Score: 2) by turgid on Saturday June 13 2015, @07:48PM
They have to be seen to be equally concerned about all kinds of supremacists.
I can see that someone studying weather and climate is going to get labelled a neo-nazi. Better not teach the kids Geography or Science.
But as Ethanol Fueled says, why on earth are children that young allowed on the internet at school at all?
I refuse to engage in a battle of wits with an unarmed opponent [wikipedia.org].
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday June 13 2015, @10:31PM
Yes, the crazy thing here is that high-school kids use the internet as part of their schooling.
You two are fucktarded.
(Score: 1) by turgid on Sunday June 14 2015, @10:51AM
The story specifically mentions that the monitoring software is being used in primary schools. Let me translate that into American for you: kids from the ages of 4 to 12 years are on the Internet and being monitored.
I refuse to engage in a battle of wits with an unarmed opponent [wikipedia.org].
(Score: 3, Insightful) by mojo chan on Monday June 15 2015, @12:01PM
It's perfectly possible for children of those ages to use the internet safely. Some AV software and ad blocking for protection, and an open classroom where everyone can see what they are doing. Like the real world, there is bad stuff out there but that's why children are supervised. It only becomes a problem when you want to rely on software to do the supervision.
const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday June 13 2015, @10:32PM
Just a few days ago, only a few blocks from my house, a white supremacist shot and killed a police officer. Do you really think they shouldn't be concerned about these people?
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/norman-raddatz-had-extensive-police-file-for-hate-crimes-1.3105901 [www.cbc.ca]
(Score: 1, Disagree) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday June 13 2015, @10:37PM
> Do you really think they shouldn't be concerned about these people?
Actually the whites are about 100x more dangerous than the browns. So-called soverign citizens kill tons of people. But they are white so they are just loonies, pay them no mind.
The crazy thing is that there is just one white keyword in that list when it really ought to be all of them.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by MichaelDavidCrawford on Saturday June 13 2015, @07:24PM
It is for this specific reasons that journalists are expected to ask for comments from all sides of a controversy.
The Portland Police Bureau officer who dropped me a dime on my way home from tweeting a lecture on engineering ethics to the Portland Startup Weekend was pissing herself laughing. If I had really threatened guns or explosions, don't you think I'd be arrested?
I have already asked The Oregonian for an apology; now their going to get a defamation lawsuit.
Yes I Have No Bananas. [gofundme.com]
(Score: 1) by Ethanol-fueled on Saturday June 13 2015, @07:30PM
Superb Troll, my man. A-.
(Score: 2) by t-3 on Saturday June 13 2015, @08:27PM
Does dropping a dime have a different meaning over there? The cop snitched on you?
(Score: 2) by MichaelDavidCrawford on Sunday June 14 2015, @01:35AM
I have grey hair.
Yes I Have No Bananas. [gofundme.com]
(Score: 2) by MichaelDavidCrawford on Sunday June 14 2015, @01:38AM
the correct usage in this case is "dropped a dime to me."
That is, the PPB officer called me on my cell.
Sorry.
Yes I Have No Bananas. [gofundme.com]
(Score: 2) by Gravis on Sunday June 14 2015, @08:07AM
I have already asked The Oregonian for an apology; now their going to get a defamation lawsuit.
they reported on what happened/what they were told which is their job.
but look at this bit:
he apparently threatened violence, explosions and guns, co-organizer Jeff Martens told participants
this is the crux of the issue because apparent means "seeming real or true, but not necessarily so."
they have nothing to apologize for because it's the truth.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by wisnoskij on Saturday June 13 2015, @09:50PM
It sounds like a jihobbyist is as far from radical as you can get. It sounds like we are just punishing them for wrong opinions now.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday June 13 2015, @10:34PM
> It sounds like a jihobbyist is as far from radical as you can get. It sounds like we are just punishing them for wrong opinions now.
First they came for the pedophiles
Then they came for the muslim children
...
(Score: 2) by turgid on Sunday June 14 2015, @02:00PM
I hear that IS have formed a retro 1950s style rock 'n' roll band. They're called Jihaddywaddy.
I refuse to engage in a battle of wits with an unarmed opponent [wikipedia.org].
(Score: 3, Interesting) by kaszz on Sunday June 14 2015, @12:24AM
This will put selective pressure on parents to teach kids about the surveillance society. At elementary school, the teacher is big brother. And who fills that role later is well known..
Smart kids know when to search for and exploit norty stuff. The other kids will learn the hard way.