I'm using my university's public WiFi with my college email and password, and I'm a little concerned about privacy. I often watch adult content that might be considered inappropriate, and I'm wondering if the university can see my browsing history or take action against me for it. Should I be worried about what they might track?
2 Answers
Yes, they can monitor some aspects of your internet activity. They might not know the specific pages you visit, but they can see the domains, like if you access prettyfreakyporn.com. Think of it as the post office: they can see the address on the outside of the envelope but not what's written inside. If you're worried, using a VPN can help, as it will encrypt your traffic and hide the sites you visit from the university.
If you're on your own device and haven't installed any specific software from the college, they typically can't see the details of what you're doing on websites due to encryption. They might know you're connected to a particular site, but with SSL/TLS encryption, they won't see the content itself—just the connection. Just be aware if you're using a school device or their software, they might have more access!
I'm using my own device and only connected through Ethernet. No extra software or certificates installed.