I was at the library in Portland and saw a kid get his phone taken for using a VPN

It was last Tuesday, and I was using a computer near the teen section. A librarian came over and told a boy, 'The school filter blocks those for a reason.' She made him close the app and hand over his phone for the rest of his study period. It hit me that for him, a simple privacy tool was seen as a threat, not a right. Has anyone else seen schools treat basic encryption like it's something bad?

2 comments

2 Comments

loganburns2d ago

Honestly, it sounds like the kid was just trying to get around the school's internet rules, not make some big stand for privacy. If it was a school device or network, they have every right to stop that. Calling a VPN a "basic privacy tool" in that setting feels like a stretch, lol. It's usually just for watching YouTube or whatever during class.

the_tessa2d ago

Wait, was this at a public library or a school library? That's a big difference. A public library shouldn't be enforcing a school's filter rules on a personal device. If it was a school library, they're probably just following their own internet policy for students.