Can Schools See Your Search History? Students, Beware!

The recent pandemic has significantly altered the social fabric we have built over hundreds of years. The effect has been widespread, with reduced social interactions and remote work becoming the norm. Just as corporate work culture has undergone changes, students’ lives have also been profoundly affected.

With students confined to their homes and relying on online classes, the dependency on school accounts and networks has increased. As thousands of students access the internet through school-provided accounts and devices, concerns about privacy and security arise. This leads to pressing questions: Can schools track students’ search history? Can they see it even when at home?

Do Schools Monitor Your Internet Activity?

Your internet history reveals a lot about you, your interests, your preferences, and even aspects of your personality.

It is well known that Google tracks extensive data about users. But what if your school can also track your Internet history, especially when you access the Internet at home? Does that thought scare you? If you use a school account, a school device, or even the school’s network, there is a good chance that your school monitors your browsing details even when you’re at home.

What’s even more concerning is that this monitoring doesn’t stop when you are off the school network. For instance, your school has provided you with an email through Google Workspace, and you have linked it to your Google Chrome profile on your personal computer; your school’s internet administrator may have access to your browsing history. They can access your online activities using the school’s administrative login to the workspace system.

Here is the unsettling part: Even if you are using your own device to access the internet, and you are synced with your school account, your internet activities are susceptible to outside monitoring.

Why Does Your School Track Your Search History?

It is reasonable for schools to prevent students from accessing objectionable, offensive, and potentially harmful content on the Internet. Schools also have policies to block such content on their network. This includes access to such material using the student account provided to students.

The primary reason behind these restrictions is to prevent students from falling prey to cyberbullying and potentially harmful online content.

Accessing and sharing such material using school accounts and internet networks is strictly forbidden. The consequences of violating these rules vary as most countries do not have federal regulations dictating school internet policy. Instead, schools establish their own guidelines and determine appropriate disciplinary actions. This could range from minor warnings to severe penalties.

If you are worried about your online activities being tracked by the school internet administrator,  avoid accessing content that may be deemed objectionable. In other words, limit your internet access to legal information related to your studies. Avoid accessing sensitive information or anything that may be considered illegal. Stay away from sites, file-sharing applications, and any information the school may have explicitly mentioned in its guidelines.

Even if the school has not mentioned or blocked anything specifically, avoid accessing information common sense indicates is illegal or objectionable. Restrict your online activity to sites and information that is legal and related to your studies.

How to Prevent Your School from Tracking Your Search History

Most students believe that deleting their browsing history is a fool-proof way to erase their online activity. However, depending on the situation, there are many ways your school may be able to track your activities.

Avoid Using Your School-Provided Google Account

If you browse the internet while logged into your school-provided Google account, all your internet history and searches are recorded, including your deleted history. This tracking is not limited to school computers. If your personal device is synced with your school’s Google account, your browsing history remains accessible to school administrators. The only way to prevent this is by avoiding the school-issued Google account. Use any personal account that is not connected to your school’s Google Workspace or your school’s domain.

Avoid Using Your School’s Wi-Fi Network

Even if you avoid using your Google account, if you’re connected to your school’s Wi-Fi, you activity can still be traced back to you. One workaround is to use your phone’s mobile data, as your school has no way of tracking that. Just make sure you disable the phone setting that automatically connects to familiar Wi-Fi networks so you’re not caught off guard.

While it may be possible to connect a school computer to your phone’s hotspot to bypass tracking, this is risky. Many schools install monitoring software on their devices that can track activity even when offline.

If You Must Use Your School’s Wi-Fi, Connect to a VPN

To potentially prevent your activities from being tracked while you’re on school Wi-Fi, you should consider using a VPN. A VPN routes your connection through a remote server and encrypts your traffic, preventing outside parties from tracking or intercepting it. But there are exceptions for school computers, which we’ll discuss shortly.

Installing a VPN on your phone is as easy as installing any other app from the Apple App Store or Google Play Store. If you want to use your phone for personal work, but you have to use the school’s Wi-Fi rather than your mobile data, a VPN would be perfect to browse without getting tracked. Your phone is free of the school’s monitoring software; therefore, using a VPN will prevent your online activities from being monitored by the school even when using their Wifi. However, your school may still be able to detect that you’re using a VPN. So, if using a VPN is against school policy, tread carefully.

School computers are a different story from personal phones. Some school computers simply block installing any software. In that case, avoid browsing anything that is against school internet policies. Even if you install a VPN on a school computer, monitoring software installed locally on school computers could capture keystrokes, screenshots, and browsing activity.

If you decide to try a VPN, I recommend ExpressVPN, which also lets you install a Google Chrome extension for faster access to its VPN services. You could also try CyberGhost VPN, our second-highest-rated VPN. CyberGhost offers budget pricing for long-term plans. In addition to hiding your activities, both VPNs let you access geo-restricted or network-blocked content at school.

Consider Using a VPN All the Time

Besides your school, your internet provider can also track your internet history. This applies regardless of any school affiliation, which is another reason students may be uncomfortable with their search history, even at home.

Additionally, using a VPN can enhance your online security and provide access to content that would otherwise be restricted or blocked. For example, a VPN can provide access to other countries’ content libraries on streaming services.

Conclusion

If you use your school network, a school-associated account, or a school laptop or device, your school’s authorities can access your browsing history, even if they’re not actively monitoring your online activities at all times. It doesn’t take an expert hacker to retrieve this information. Anyone with administrator access to your school server or laptop can discover what you’ve been up to.

To maintain privacy, consider logging out of school-associated accounts, avoiding your school’s Wi-Fi network, using a personal device, and installing a VPN. VPNs have many other uses and cost very little on long-term plans, so consider getting a good one, like ExpressVPN, for daily use.

Safeguarding your online privacy is not just about avoiding restrictions; it is about developing responsible habits, protecting your personal information, and upholding ethical behavior.

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Topic: Internet