An Auckland school has told parents they must put "spyware" on their children's phones for the children to get access to the school's Wi-Fi network. "When I was meeting principals back then, one of the problems that was always highlighted was that it keeps the kids safe in the school Wi-Fi, however when they jump off the school Wi-Fi they can go wherever they want," he said. Waller said Birkenhead College students could still access the school Wi-Fi on school computers if their parents did not sign up to the app, but the app gave them Wi-Fi access on their personal phones and laptops as well. Some set time limits such as allowing personal Wi-Fi access at lunchtimes, and some banned personal devices completely. "There is no compunction for any school to allow personal devices that are not used in a learning context to connect to the school network."

Source: Otago Daily Times February 28, 2019 17:48 UTC