School internet use

Dan Perry made this Freedom of Information request to Lincolnshire County Council

The request was partially successful.

From: Dan Perry

24 November 2009

Dear Freedom of Information Officer,

I am writing to request information under the Freedom of
Information Act 2000. In order to assist you with this request, I
am outlining my query as specifically as possible.

For the following questions I would like the figures for both
primary schools and secondary schools:

1) Does the County Council offer internet censoring software to
schools in Lincolnshire?

2) If yes, what is the name of the software and how many schools
use it?

3) How many schools have decided to use their own internet
censorship software?

4) Have any schools opted not to censor/filter their internet
access at all? How many have made this decision?

5) How many incidents have there been in which pupils/students at
primary and secondary schools have managed to breach the internet
filters and view inappropriate (violent/pornographic etc.) material
in the past five years? Pleae could you provide me with the dates
and details of these breaches.

I would be interested in any information held by your organisation
regarding my request. I understand that I do not have to specify
particular files or documents and that it is the department’s
responsibility to provide the information I require.

If my request is denied in whole or in part, I ask that you justify
all deletions by reference to specific exemptions of the act. I
will also expect you to release all non-exempt material. I reserve
the right to appeal your decision to withhold any information or to
charge excessive fees.

I would be grateful if you could confirm in writing/by email that
you have received this request. I look forward to your response
within 20 working days, as outlined by the statute.

Regards,

Dan Perry

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Rob J Wells left an annotation (25 November 2009)

Hi Dan,

Some of the details you're after can be found in this Freedom of Information request, which was recently answered:

http://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/ch...

Link to this

From: Infomgt
Lincolnshire County Council

25 November 2009

Dear Mr Perry

Freedom of Information Reference: 08275FOI

Subject: Request for information regarding the use of internet censorship
software in primary and secondary schools in Lincolnshire

Thank you for your recent request for information received by this office
on 24th November 2009. Your request is being dealt with under the terms of
the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

Your request will be handled by the Children's Services Directorate. We
will aim to respond to your request, notifying you whether or not the
information requested is held by Lincolnshire County Council and
communicating that information to you (provided that the information is
not exempt under the terms of the Act), within 20 working days from the
day after your request was received.

We may reasonably require further information from you in order to
identify and locate the information requested. If this is the case we will
contact you in due course.

In some circumstances a fee may be payable and if that is the case, we
will let you know. A fees notice will be issued to you, and you will be
required to pay before we will proceed to deal with your request.

If you have any queries about this letter, please contact us. Please
remember to quote the reference number above in any future communications.

Yours sincerely,

Freedom of Information Department

Resources Directorate

Lincolnshire County Council

[1][Lincolnshire County Council request email]

The information we have supplied to you may contain intellectual property
rights of Lincolnshire County Council. Your use of the information must be
strictly in accordance with the Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988 (as
amended), or other applicable legislation. In particular, you must not
re-use this information for any commercial purpose.
If you would like to re-use this information for any commercial purpose
you must make a formal request to us under the Re-Use of Public Sector
Information Regulations 2005. Please email us at
[2][email address]

show quoted sections

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From: Infomgt
Lincolnshire County Council

14 December 2009

Dear Mr Perry

Freedom of Information Reference: 08275FOI

Subject: Request for information regarding the use of internet censorship
software in primary and secondary schools in Lincolnshire

Thank you for your recent request for information received by this office
on 24th November 2009.

1) Does the County Council offer internet censoring software to schools in
Lincolnshire?

Lincolnshire County Council offers all County schools an internet
filtering service.

2) If yes, what is the name of the software and how many schools use it?

The software solution currently provided to schools is Netsweeper. This
was purchased and implemented in April 2008 as part of a core service
offered to all schools and is reviewed annually. Currently 364 schools
are set up to use the service.

3) How many schools have decided to use their own internet censorship
software?

Currently there are 12 schools who use their own internet filtering
solution.

4) Have any schools opted not to censor/filter their internet access at
all? How many have made this decision?

Lincolnshire County Council policy does not allow unfiltered internet
connections to schools. Should a school not wish to use the county
provided solution, they are required to filter all internet content using
a Becta approved solution.

5) How many incidents have there been in which pupils/students at primary
and secondary schools have managed to breach the internet filters and view
inappropriate (violent/pornographic etc.) material in the past five years?
Pleae could you provide me with the dates and details of these breaches.

Netsweeper was purchased and implemented in April 2008 as part of a core
service offered to schools. Both Netsweeper and the previous filtering
tools subscribe to the Internet Watch Foundation `blacklist', a list of
known and suspected illegal websites. Staff and students are unable to
view these blacklisted websites when using the internet in Lincolnshire
Schools. Lincolnshire County Council has been formally notified on 7
different occasions with regards to incidents concerning internet
filtering. On each occasion this notification has been through the
Helpdesk. The following page, compiled from Helpdesk records, gives
further details of these incidents and correcting actions taken.

We believe that this answers your request in full.

Yours sincerely

Rachel Starmer
Resources Directorate
Lincolnshire County Council

[1][Lincolnshire County Council request email]

We trust you are happy with this response but if you are unhappy with the
service you have received in relation to your request and wish to make a
complaint or request a review or our decision, please write to: Corporate
Complaints, Lincolnshire County Council, PO Box 841, Lincoln, LON ZEN

The information we have supplied to you may contain intellectual property
rights of Lincolnshire County Council. Your use of the information must be
strictly in accordance with the Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988 (as
amended), or other applicable legislation. In particular, you must not
re-use this information for any commercial purpose.

If you would like to re-use this information for any commercial purpose
you must make a formal request to us under the Re-Use of Public Sector
Information Regulations 2005. Please email us at [2]reuse
[email address]

show quoted sections

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From: Dan Perry

14 December 2009

Dear Rachel,

Thankyou for your reply. I can't see an attachment or any other
letter with the internet filtering incidents information you have
recieved through Helpdesk, as stated in question 5. Would it be
possible for you to send that through?

Yours sincerely,

Dan Perry

Link to this

From: Infomgt
Lincolnshire County Council

17 December 2009

Dear Mr Perry

Freedom of Information Reference: 08275FOI

Subject: Request for information regarding the use of internet censorship
software in primary and secondary schools in Lincolnshire

Thank you for your recent request for information received by this office
on 24th November 2009.

1) Does the County Council offer internet censoring software to

schools in Lincolnshire?

Lincolnshire County Council offers all County schools an internet
filtering service.

2) If yes, what is the name of the software and how many schools

use it?

The software solution currently provided to schools is Netsweeper. This
was purchased and implemented in April 2008 as part of a core service
offered to all schools and is reviewed annually. Currently 364 schools
are set up to use the service.

3) How many schools have decided to use their own internet

censorship software?

Currently there are 12 schools who use their own internet filtering
solution.

4) Have any schools opted not to censor/filter their internet

access at all? How many have made this decision?

Lincolnshire County Council policy does not allow unfiltered internet
connections to schools. Should a school not wish to use the county
provided solution, they are required to filter all internet content using
a Becta approved solution.

5) How many incidents have there been in which pupils/students at

primary and secondary schools have managed to breach the internet

filters and view inappropriate (violent/pornographic etc.) material

in the past five years? Pleae could you provide me with the dates

and details of these breaches.

Netsweeper was purchased and implemented in April 2008 as part of a core
service offered to schools. Both Netsweeper and the previous filtering
tools subscribe to the Internet Watch Foundation `blacklist', a list of
known and suspected illegal websites. Staff and students are unable to
view these blacklisted websites when using the internet in Lincolnshire
Schools. Lincolnshire County Council has been formally notified on 7
different occasions with regards to incidents concerning internet
filtering. On each occasion this notification has been through the
Helpdesk. The following page, compiled from Helpdesk records, gives
further details of these incidents and correcting actions taken.

We believe that this answers your request in full.

Rachel Starmer
Resources Directorate
Lincolnshire County Council

[1][Lincolnshire County Council request email]

We trust you are happy with this response but if you are unhappy with the
service you have received in relation to your request and wish to make a
complaint or request a review or our decision, please write to: Corporate
Complaints, Lincolnshire County Council, PO Box 841, Lincoln, LON ZEN

The information we have supplied to you may contain intellectual property
rights of Lincolnshire County Council. Your use of the information must be
strictly in accordance with the Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988 (as
amended), or other applicable legislation. In particular, you must not
re-use this information for any commercial purpose.

If you would like to re-use this information for any commercial purpose
you must make a formal request to us under the Re-Use of Public Sector
Information Regulations 2005. Please email us at [2]reuse
[email address]

show quoted sections

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