My worry is my university might have access to my devices in any way, I already posted about it and many gave me reassurance about it, but I decided to reinstall them anyway.
Phone and laptop, how to do that? About the laptop, below is what someone told me, so I want to be sure I don’t have any of those tools left on my devices (if they’re there at all lol)
"It’s normal for school and business networks to install extra software that gives them more control over your device. These are usually called endpoint management clients.
Removing your school account from your device will not automatically remove the endpoint management client that they may have installed. If you’re genuinely worried that your school may be snooping on you, you should also be worried about some of those snooping tools getting left behind on your computer once you remove your school account.
The only way to be completely sure their tools are gone is to reinstall Windows from a bootable USB that you made yourself. Then, never ever log in to Windows again with your school account. If you do, your computer will rejoin their network and automatically download their endpoint management client(s) again."
Might help if you told us what OS your laptop is running.
Windows 11 Home
(phone too?)
Windows 11 Home is not compatible with the vast majority of MDM systems. Your school can’t see what you do. If you still want to reset your laptop, do this:
Click Start.
Click Settings.
Click System.
Click Recovery.
Click Reset PC.
Choose to keep your files or remove everything.
Follow the instructions to reset your computer.
The advice given to you for reinstalling Windows is sound and should get rid of any software. Just make sure to backup any valuable data before!
As for your phone, is it an iPhone or Android?
MagicOS 7.1 (honor)
As an Android flavour it should be safe after uninstalling all apps associated with the university. Did any of them need a “device owner” permission? That’s the only way to be more persistent on Android without root access.
I don’t remember… it was a few years ago. What’s the safest thing, factory resetting? I did that…
That’s more than enough. You can’t do any more.
A factory reset should be enough.
As the others said, a factory reset will suffice. If you’re really paranoid, you can check whether your phone has a custom rom you can install. XDA Developers is the best forum to look for that.
ok my phone (Honor 90 Lite) doesn’t support custom roms apparently and I am really paranoid. what can i do?
And sad too, I was really considering that :( It would have been a new world to me
Damn shame. Well, I’d try to sell it or trade for a phone that you can install a custom rom, like LineageOS, they have a handy list of devices that have first class support for it.
You can’t be sure after reinstalling Windows. Install Linux instead.
This guy can’t even google how to factory reset his laptop. Linux is not a good choice for him.
I’m asking bc I want to do the most effective thing, after I get told what to do I can do it I swear haha Just trying to get as much advice as possible
If you’re interested in using something other than Microsoft Windows, getgnulinux.org is a good place to read about your options and how to switch.
Can you explain why and how? Thank you for answering!
Windows is closed source and controlled by Microsoft. There is no way to verify what it actually does on your PC and as long as it’s installed, your computer is not really yours.
Linux is open source and closely scrutinized for security violations or any sort of data collection shitfuckery. That’s no guarantee, of course, but you have a far better chance of your computer not acting as a surveillance mechanism.
Having said that, Linux does take some technical knowledge, so be prepared to put on some work before making the switch.
Thank you!
Advice on the phone? I’ll do that first since it’s more important for now, and get enough info about linux to decide…
Google “factory reset” for whatever model of phone you have.
If I connect my personal gmail account on it (which I used on laptot too, with the school account) would they be able to access it again?
If there was malware on your machine that skimmed your password, it might be compromised. Better change it on a different device before logging in again. But that would amount to criminal malfeasance or at least criminal negligence on the part of your university. But better be safe than sorry.
oh ok but that wouldn’t be done by the university I think, is that what you mean? taking my password and stuff
Also… if i enter my personal account on them after doing that (not the uni account) would they be able to find me? (I sound crazy, I know…)
What do you mean precisely by “find me”?
hahaha I mean access my device again :') I sound like a criminal
I sound like a criminal
Yeah, a little bit ahah but everyone has their secrets to protect I guess 😄
Anyway, don’t logging into your account at all is a great first step to protect your data. There may be other things to do then but I don’t know, it really depends on what other services does the uni provides and I should know a bit more… I mean for example, is the device yours? Are you connected to uni’s network?
I don’t know about your uni, but I’m Italian and here all the digital services provided by my university were pretty intrusive, to the point that when I can I just wouldn’t use them at all.
WHAT Italian too. Ora sono terrorizzata
Ora sono terrorizzata
Ma no! Perché?ahah Già il fatto che non sei entrata con l’account e ne stai usando uno nuovo va benissimo e togli all’Università una gran fetta di tuoi dati personali. Quindi secondo me sei già a posto così.
Dicevo che è un primo passo perché ad essere onesto non ho capito al 100% se hai un problema preciso o se stai semplicemente cercando di regalare meno dati possibili alla tua università. Se è il primo caso, eventualmente spiegami meglio qual è il problema e cerco di aiutarti, se è il secondo invece altre cose che potresti fare sono sicuramente non collegarti al Wi-Fi dell’uni o farlo solo usando una vpn (io non lo facevo e basta, usavo solo rete dati e hotspot), e ridurre al minimo la quantità di app/programmi dell’uni che installi sui tuoi dispositivi personali.
Se non sei connessa alla loro rete, non hai app o programmi loro installati e non sei loggata col tuo account dell’uni da nessuna parte, allora possono spiare ben poco, quindi puoi stare tranquilla!
Chiedi pure se hai bisogno di altro :)
ahah panico. Non capisco se non hai letto tutti i commenti (giustamente) o se proprio ti riferisci ad altri modi in cui possono “sorvegliarmi” …
Ho dato un’occhiata ai commenti e ho anche visto che hai fatto un altro paio di post sulla cosa, però no, ad essere onesto non ho proprio letto tutto tutto. Ti ho fatto queste domande perché volevo capire meglio come aiutarti… Perché se stai cercando di capire meglio come funziona la sorveglianza su internet in generale e come proteggerti, e lo stai chiedendo a partire da questo discorso dell’uni allora è un tema gigantesco che richiede una certa calma e un po’ di tempo per essere affrontato.
Se invece ti preoccupa il fatto specifico dell’uni allora vedo di leggermi con calma gli altri commenti (forse avrei dovuto farlo subito in effetti, prima di commentare a caso ahah ma ero incuriosito dalla tua domanda) e vedo se c’è altro di utile che posso dirti, ma quello che ti ho scritto secondo me è già sufficiente dal punto di vista uni. Alcuni consigli che ti hanno dato, come passare a Linux o usare custom ROM sono più rivolti alla privacy online in generale che al discorso università, quindi secondo me si stanno un po’ mescolando le cose… Ma magari sono io che non ho capito lol
In ogni caso è molto bello che tu sia preoccupata e ti renda conto dell’importanza del tema ed è deprimente che sia così raro trovare qualcuno che si faccia queste domande e sia (giustamente!) paranoico al riguardo… Detto ciò non andare nel panico, perché per tenere fuori l’uni dai cacchi tuoi hai già fatto abbastanza :)
“great first step” WHAT ELSE CAN I DO? I’m worried about my phone here, personal phone. I created another gmail account so that I don’t have anything to do with accounts I used on it or my pc before. So not only I’m avoiding using the university account, but also the old personal gmail account.
aiutami.
