Saturday 22 January 2011

Unapproved use of technology at HCT

The Higher Colleges of Technology, the self-proclaimed 'models of tolerance and progress' in the Gulf, appear to be getting a little uptight about their employees' internet habits. A recent update of HCT's internet policy makes clear threats against anybody who posts anything in cyberspace that HCT doesn't like, or even looks at an 'unapproved' website.

Take a look at these new sanctions, which appeared earlier in the semester...

Conditions of Use
· Users are not permitted to post proprietary or confidential information pertaining to the HCT on the internet, including forums, groups, anonymous FTP servers, or any other such open facility.
· Users are not authorised to make personal statements that could be misconstrued as the official position of the HCT.

In other words, HCT's employees are no longer allowed to discuss their work and employment on open and democratic forums, just in case HCT disapproves. Even merely mentioning a simple fact, such as how many students you have in class, or stating your salary, could be seen as subversive by the HCT Goons in management.

Giving your personal opinion is also a no-go area now, given that some people are apparently so dumb they might think it's an official Goon Squad policy statement. So be careful you don't tell a journalist that you think Kamali is an asshole, as it might get 'misconstrued', and nobody would like that, would they now?!

A couple more restricting points have been made about accessing websites from your work station. These make interesting reading too, especially if you thought you had some sort of right to personal integrity at the workplace.

HCT Rights
· The HCT has the right to enforce URL filtering to restrict access to certain sites that are considered offensive and / or not relevant to the HCT business.
· IT Services Team reserves the right to monitor internet traffic to ensure compliance with HCT policy and procedures. Internet traffic will be logged and any misuse detected can result in disciplinary action.

So, you'll find that several sites have been declared 'off-limits' by Goon Squad Central, as they are apparently irelevant or not deferential enough in their eyes, and you won't be able to access them anymore. I wonder which sites they could be thinking of?! And I wonder if this limitation applies equally to the head honchos at Central Services, or is it just for the classroom plebs?

But perhaps the scariest provision of these new restrictions is the admission that HCT regularly monitor their staff's use of the web. This has always been well known, but not openly stated until now, and the fact that it can result in 'disciplinary action' means that almost everybody stands at risk of dismissal.

And how could anybody defend themselves against such an accusation? If The Goons place a bit of paper in front of you that states you were reading this blog at a certain time on a certain day, how could any faculty member possibly say it's not true?

Once again, Kamali and his sycophantic cronies are bent on making life tougher for HCT's teachers and staff, and plan to make it even easier than it is at present to stitch somebody up and get them sacked.

Well done, King Kamali - another triumph in the plan for 'The Way Forward'!!