<p>I mean, obviously they can see whatever you have that is public. But is it actually true that they can see all of your private conversations on chat, inbox, etc.?</p>
<p>Is this a myth, or do high schools have the right to access all of your private information on social networking sites. For example, if you had a facebook chat conversation with a friend(privately), are they able to see that whole conversation?</p>
<p>Is this true? Or is it a myth?</p>
<p>Hmmmm… I’m sure that they look at your profiles and wall, but I have not heard that they have the legal rights to access all of your personal emails and chats… Interesting to think about though</p>
<p>I don’t know. However if you are currently at BS and linked to their network, I certainly think it’s possible that they could access it.</p>
<p>Not at a current BS, but as a future applicant, do they go through all the applicants facebook/other social networking sites? I mean, I just don’t see how it would be legal to go through someone’s private chats.</p>
<p>Thoughts?</p>
<p>No access to your private inbox or sent file on FB. They can see only what’s available on your facebook page. Still, without question - and this can never be emphasized enough to kids - only write and pic online that which you’re prepared for an employer, your grandmother, a potential school or club to see. If it doesn’t meet that test, don’t post.</p>
<p>Very true, and I am not in this position at all. I am a good kid, who rarely even talks on facebook!
I just needed to confirm that this was just a myth. </p>
<p>But is it true that you have to sign a form when you apply, that grants them access to that personal and private info. Such as inbox and chats?</p>
<p>I don’t know any school that requires an applicant to sign such a waiver.</p>
<p>yep. they have permission to see everything</p>
<p>What schools specifically fall into the “they” category?</p>
<p>prepschools cant access private mail boxes of potential candidates. its not a question of legality (since remember this is not the stuff you have hidden in your locker, this is internet, which is public), its a question of 1. impossibility since they would need your password, etc, 2. waste of time and money for them to have someone sift through countless records. Thats not to say that a parent of a competing kid wouldnt bring up that photo of you with a red cup and vodka bottle in the background to the adcoms, if they were so inclined</p>
<p>Well, I know that at SPS once you’re hooked into their network, they can see everything that you’re doing online, every site you’ve been too, etc. So theoretically, they can. However, there is really no chance of them sitting in front of a computer and looking through all the pages you’ve been to online; the only reason they’d check is if there have been allegations of inappropriate use.</p>
<p>wow youre cool
Roll Tide</p>
<p>Honestly guys,
I doubt prep schools have enough time to scan the myspaces/facebooks/twitters of every single applicant,
just in case, set your FB profile to private, and make sure your pic is a decent one and you’re good</p>
<p>goldilion, that is because you are using their network; they can track everything you do, separate from whether they can look at your internet record before admission, which is frankly impossible.</p>
<p>They can look at your facebook after you have been accepted and expel you if they pictures of you doing something bad like drinking. They have some of the smartest kids in the country at prep schools and some of them will grow to be hacker for software companies so they probably ways of them doing it. Just be mindful of what you post anywhere on the internet even on College Confidential.</p>
<p>*Mark Zuckerburg (founder of Facebook) happened to attend a certain Boarding School by the name of Phillips Exeter Academy</p>
<p>And Chris Hughes (a fellow founder of FB) went to Phillips Andover. I think they met at Harvard.</p>
<p>You hosted a great party last weekend but your BFF couldn’t be there, so you thought you’d have a private Facebook chat to fill her in on the adorable guy who smuggled in the beer. Both of you have your pages set to private and you’d trust her with your life, so what could go wrong?</p>
<ol>
<li><p>BFF is at the school library when she decides to check Facebook. When she’s done she closes the page but Whoops! she forgets to log out. Mr. Grim, your science teacher, goes to Facebook an hour later and up pops that pic. of you and Mr. Adorable posing with the empties. You are officially burned.</p></li>
<li><p>BFF’s mom insisted on being given full access to BFF’s Facebook when she signed up 5 years ago. She’s never accessed it, so who would remember? Unfortunately this is the week Momsy decides to check out her daughter’s friends. Her daughter wasn’t at the party so Mom has no problem narcing on you to the Headmaster. She brings a screen shot of your wall with her. Not good.</p></li>
<li><p>Your little brother, curious about your life at St. Grotlesex, decides to hack into your Facebook account. Nosy bugger knows your passwords from snooping in your stuff and he thinks it’s hysterical to change your privacy settings. Everyone on your friends list, including Great Aunt Lavinia and your second grade teacher is now privy to the details of your wild night. Oops. </p></li>
<li><p>Your BFF forwards that picture of you and Mr. Adorable to her friend at Exover, to prove that the dating stock at Gt. Grotlesex is far superior to that of Exover. Exover girl doesn’t know you, so what’s the harm? Exover girl, eager to show that St. Grotlesex kids are all alcoholics, (she’s secretly still irate at being turned down for admission at St. Grotlesex), plasters your pictures and a copy of your private chat all over the net. The St. Grotlesex trustee whose daughter friended him last year is none too pleased and he makes his feelings clear to the Headmaster. Toast.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>The scenarios are endless. I, personally have been in the first two as the “finder” of information. In the first case it was a college-aged relative who used my computer over vacation and didn’t realize her page would come up when I tried to log on to my account. I logged her out right away, but had I chosen to snoop, who knows what I might have found?</p>
<p>In the second case, I discovered some seriously disturbing information about a couple of friends on my child’s page. (We make full access a condition of having a FB account, although we have rarely used it). I chose to go to the parents instead of the school, but had I made a different decision the friends would not be at that school today.</p>
<p>There is no legal presumption of privacy on Facebook or other social media. A prep school headmaster I know says it best: “Don’t put anything on Facebook you would not want to see on the front page of your home town newspaper.” He has had multiple conversations with kids about their pages and he says he’s always surprised at the number of kids who expect their FB posts to remain private.</p>
<p>Oooh, okay at Exeter, there was this one “girl?” that added everyone with the exeter network. Nobody suspected anything because she was part of the exeter network, and to do so, you must have an exeter.edu email address. She’s got no pictures or anything posted on her wall. We think that she’s? from the dean of students office… 
So be careful! And don’t add random people.</p>
<p>Yeah things lost I saw that in the newspaper when I Came to visit. That’s kind of wierd but I guess they want to make sure nobody is doing anything bad/illegal and then puting what they did on FAcebook.</p>
<p>i dont think so facebook keeps on saying everything is protected and to disregaurd the rumors, but make sure u have your privacy settings keep all your stuff just to your friends</p>