BFTP: Filtering and hypercompliance

The guy who does my taxes says that good citizens pay every penny they owe - but not one penny more.

That pretty well summarizes a sensible view of compliance with any law. Follow it, but don't go overboard. A driver is not more law-abiding by going 10 mph under the speed limit.

Unfortunately, too many technology decision-makers "hyper-comply" with CIPA. A great example is the current flap over Google enabling encrypted searches for materials. In some weird, paranoid logic, the readwriteweb [link no longer active] folks think this violates CIPA since such searches can't be monitored. (The websites found are still blocked.)

CIPA, just as reminder, only says:

"The protection measures must block or filter Internet access to pictures that are: (a) obscene, (b) child pornography, or (c) harmful to minors"

Nothing about monitoring - period.

Some school districts (San Diego) have just flat out blocked any sites that use SSL, encrypting data sent - which honks off, I guess, the more Orwellian techs. Since GoogleApps in Education uses SSL (aren't we supposed to be protecting users' privacy?), schools have been blocking GoogleApps as well.

No filtering attempt works 100% - even filtering companies admit this. Kids use proxies. Kids have their own devices with 3/4G connectivity. Kids take computers home and cache web pages. New nasty sites or old nasty sites with new web addresses appear. Just like a school cannot 100% guarantee a kid will never get hurt on a playground, a school cannot 100% guarantee a kids will never be exposed to pornography*.

Smart schools practice "due diligence." This means filtering at a reasonable level. It means ADULT monitoring of student computer use. It mean having, teaching and enforcing an understandable AUP (or Responsible Use Policy). It does not mean using any crackpot CIPA scare tactic to block access to useful information, tools and experiences.

Due diligence can have a different meaning to reasonable people. But relying on over-blocking by web filters alone is not due diligence.

* Postman's "one big room" theory seems to be increasingly prescient.

Thanks, Geezer Online.

Original post June 16, 2010