New Surveillance Software for Schools

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By Meg McCaffrey -- School Library Journal, 09/01/2003

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It's a sad, but perhaps understandable, sign of the times that computer surveillance software is making its presence felt in schools. Spector Professional Edition made by SpectorSoft, is able to identify everything done on a computer—and by whom. The "Pro" edition scans Web sites that students have visited, and searches chatroom and e-mail messages to detect if kids are discussing potentially harmful activities, such as plans to bomb a classroom. A school can supply its own list of topics or phrases for the software to look for—for example, the phrase "Kill my teacher" or racial slurs. If those phrases or words turn up on school computers, an Alert Notification is e-mailed to the appropriate school authority.

The software can detect hate messages e-mailed to students or computer problems that mysteriously occur each time a particular student uses a computer. (The latter may indicate that the student is trying to hack into the system.) The surveillance software can also detect if a student quickly switches screens or applications every time a librarian or teacher walks by. The product can even detect students who try to circumvent monitoring by using Hotmail or instant messaging.

Robert Frost, a technology specialist at Highland School of Technology in Gastonia, NC, says the Pro edition is "very helpful when contacting parents about a problem because you have concrete information to share with them," he says. The only drawback, Frost adds, is that educators can spend a lot of time perusing what the software has earmarked as suspicious.

Prices begin at $14.95 per license. It's available via CD or can be downloaded at www.SpectorSoft.com.