Students who frequently use the FCPS network may have already noticed that it is now asking for a lot more than just clicking the ‘yes’ button to access the internet. The rumor is that this will mean the county can monitor online activity. However, the county has always had this ability. The only change in the network is how people connect to the network, which is being implemented countywide in all schools.

“The county’s motive in doing this was that they’ve been tasked by the school board to keep track of how many devices are using their network,” school-based technology specialist Charles Brewer said.

Previously, the school recorded the number of devices using the network through Bring Your Own Device (BYOD). BYOD required students to go through the registration process to access their devices and was indicated by a sticker placed on their devices.There were only about 300 people who had been registered under BYOD, but at any given time, there were well over 1,000 people connected to the network. As a result, the main motive of the county is to get a more accurate account of how many devices are using the network.

“Because the county is sponsoring the network, they have the right to know how many people are using the network,” freshman Stanley Tran said.

However, some students are not exactly pleased with the change, regardless of the reason behind it.

“I think they should have just told us and found a way to only allow registered devices online”, freshman Alex Rashid said.

Brewer said the county has always been able to monitor online traffic only a few people are in charge of monitoring online activity. The county has no interest in spying on students, but does have a legal obligation to monitor online trafficking to ensure no illegal activities are being carried out, he said.

“There have been cases in the past where the [Motion Picture Association of America] has actually sued universities and education systems,” Brewer said, “because people were using their network to do illegal activities.”

Along with monitoring online trafficking for illegal activities, the network records the MAC address, username and password, so it could theoretically help students locate missing devices using the MAC address. This is similar to the paperwork from BYOD last year.

“That was one of the nice things when we were doing paper ones,” Brewer said, “because we put those stickers on it, and I was able to help four or five people recover smartphones last year.”