[{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https:\/\/thehomeground.asia\/destinations\/singapore\/moe-were-tracking-search-history-not-student-locations\/#NewsArticle","mainEntityOfPage":"https:\/\/thehomeground.asia\/destinations\/singapore\/moe-were-tracking-search-history-not-student-locations\/","headline":"MOE: We’re Tracking Search History, Not Student Locations","name":"MOE: We’re Tracking Search History, Not Student Locations","description":"Fill Me In Privacy concerns have been the name of the game in Singapore for the last two months. Much attention has been focused on data from the TraceTogether token being accessible by police (recently restricted by a new bill), and the Ministry of Education\u2019s (MOE) Device Management Application. With the latter, much of the […]","datePublished":"2021-02-03","dateModified":"2022-04-15","author":{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/thehomeground.asia\/author\/aria-hernandez\/#Person","name":"Aria Hernandez","url":"https:\/\/thehomeground.asia\/author\/aria-hernandez\/","identifier":189,"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/608bdd364ce3d8eeec63bc5678f7be7526d507ca0f5e84db530c1808f2e5c275?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/608bdd364ce3d8eeec63bc5678f7be7526d507ca0f5e84db530c1808f2e5c275?s=96&d=mm&r=g","height":96,"width":96}},"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"TheHomeGround Asia","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/thehomeground.asia\/wp-content\/uploads\/photo_2021-07-22-222533.jpeg","url":"https:\/\/thehomeground.asia\/wp-content\/uploads\/photo_2021-07-22-222533.jpeg","width":640,"height":640}},"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/thehomeground.asia\/wp-content\/uploads\/1612192912877_news_moedma_Featured.jpg","url":"https:\/\/thehomeground.asia\/wp-content\/uploads\/1612192912877_news_moedma_Featured.jpg","height":626,"width":1280},"url":"https:\/\/thehomeground.asia\/destinations\/singapore\/moe-were-tracking-search-history-not-student-locations\/","about":["Community","Local","Singapore"],"wordCount":880,"articleBody":"Fill Me InPrivacy concerns have been the name of the game in Singapore for the last two months. Much attention has been focused on data from the TraceTogether token being accessible by police (recently restricted by a new bill), and the Ministry of Education\u2019s (MOE) Device Management Application. With the latter, much of the netizens\u2019 worries are centred around the lack of information provided by MOE, leading many to question the necessity for such measures.\u00a0Change.orgMOE has since provided some timely clarification\u00a0on the Device Management Application (DMA) that it announced was to be installed on all home-based learning (HBL) devices by this year. It will seek to block \u201cquestionable\u201d sites \u2013 we\u2019re assuming classic \u201ctime-wasters\u201d such as Facebook are off the list.\u00a0A little about these HBL devices.Sometime back in June 2020, MOE announced that it was going to offer digital devices to all secondary school students, who would have to pay for them, by the end of this year. This is part of the ministry\u2019s efforts to enable learning from home, in one of the many ways that COVID-19 has changed for good the way we live. Beginning the third term of 2021, students will engage in HBL at least twice a month.\u00a0As part of those HBL devices, MOE also announced that a data-capturing software would need to be installed with it. According to MOE, this application would be a compulsory installation in all HBL devices, even if students were to use their own personal devices. This was also in order to address students potentially misusing their devices, apparently allowing teachers to control how the devices were being used, and track how well students were using their devices.\u00a0While many of us may remember our teachers being able to see our screens in school computer labs, teachers being able to do that when we\u2019re at home is enough cause for reaction.\u00a0What is the DMS that made students start a petition?Along with a slew of comments by netizens questioning the privacy that students would have, and how their data would be used, a petition was started on Change.org, seemingly by students as well.\u00a0The petition details the released features of the DMA, which were grouped into three categories, namely, a \u201cclassroom management service,\u201d \u201cmobile device management service,\u201d and \u201cusage management service.\u201dChange.org, Jing-Yu LyeThe classroom management service would allow teachers to monitor personal learning devices, to \u201cimprove student management and deliver effective teaching.” In the petition, this aspect was stated to \u201cin other words\u201d to allow teachers to disable student’s personal learning devices (PLDs) at any time, show you content at their own discretion, as well as seeing what content you may currently have.READ: My Lack of Cyber Wellness Knowhow Landed Me on the Internet’s Dark SideThe mobile device management service was intended to facilitate the remote deployment of teaching material, learning applications, and security patches. \u201cIn other words\u201d, the petition says, \u201cthis allows the school\/teacher to be able to install\/run any program, malicious or not, on your PLD, at their own discretion.\u201dThe final indicated rung of the DMA, the usage management service, was to address stress that students\u2019 eyes would suffer from prolonged usage of their devices. The petition explains this as a feature that \u201ceffectively allows the school\/teacher to be able to control how much one uses a PLD, as well as whitelist\/blacklist any programs that you may need to run, with you having no real control over how they can do it.\u201dDrawing to an actionable close, the petition expresses that students were \u201cunhappy\u201d with MOE\u2019s requirements, due to a lack of control, freedom, and privacy. The petition also draws the observation that even if MOE were to exercise the DMA\u2019s features with safety, students would always remain privy to external risks.\u00a0\u201cThis may also put many students information and data at risk to hackers, as they can easily access the data if such program is breached\u2026 Although we understand that the MOE and schools need some way to control the students, we can not force every student to install the DMA, and instead must reach a compromise\u201d, the petition says.\u00a0As of 1 February 2021, the petition has garnered about 6,400 signatures.\u00a0MOE’s general response…and clarificationsAfter the backlash, MOE clarified on 1 February that personal information would not be tracked using the devices, whether location data, identification numbers, or passwords. Data collected would also be stored in protected servers with tightly controlled access.\u00a0PexelsMr Aaron Loh, MOE\u2019s divisional director of educational technology, said that the measure \u201cis in line with the Government\u2019s personal data laws and policies to safeguard sensitive data collected by public agencies.\u201dOne way of looking at this DMA would be like the watchful eye of a parent. MOE had also said that the DMA would protect students against content that includes pornography, gambling, and extremism.\u00a0With the recent news of a boy as young as 16 years old drawing plans to act on extremist ideologies, perhaps it remains ever important to protect our young \u2013 at least when they\u2019re at \u2018school\u2019. Join the conversations on THG’s\u00a0Facebook\u00a0and\u00a0Instagram, and get the latest updates via\u00a0Telegram."},{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Destinations","item":"https:\/\/thehomeground.asia\/destinations\/#breadcrumbitem"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Singapore","item":"https:\/\/thehomeground.asia\/destinations\/\/singapore\/#breadcrumbitem"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"MOE: We’re Tracking Search History, Not Student Locations","item":"https:\/\/thehomeground.asia\/destinations\/singapore\/moe-were-tracking-search-history-not-student-locations\/#breadcrumbitem"}]}]