Word: logged
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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Last week, The Crimson published an editorial, using that big ol' font that editorial folks love to use, pointing fingers at HASCS and particularly at its director Franklin M. Steen for allowing a public log file of ftp transfers to sit idly while hordes of unsuspecting, lascivious students down-loaded megabyte-fuls of pornography...
...point to be made here is clear. While a "policy on privacy" may be instructive, in practice one should assume that when using a shared computer, all bets for true privacy are off, as unintentional violations like the ftp log incident are always possible...
This situation arises because there is no consistent policy guideline that dictates students' rights and responsibilities on the network. Students simply are not aware of what they are able to do on the network and how private those activities are. When the existence of the log was discovered, HASCS took a week to close it down; the day after it was closed down, an automatic system re-engaged it. It was only when The Crimson made HASCS aware of this that the file was finally closed down. This is technical incompetence, plain and simple...
...lack of adequate user knowledge and the false assumptions with which most of us use Harvard's computer systems leave us all vulnerable. When the log file was obtained by a Crimson reporter, he could, like any other network user, contact those student listed in the file...
...just the first high-pitched meow we've heard. The FBI threatens to take legal action against Harvard computer users if it obtains evidence that they had imported obscene materials. This evidence still exists, and is available to so-called "superusers" of the network. It is the public log file, which Harvard created and is keeping. The manner in which this file was compiled, without the knowledge of the students involved, sounds too much like a Orwellian sting operation...