Q: Is my teacher allowed to go through my search history if its my computer from home?
I go to a high school that is part of the Toronto District School Board and my teacher has been going through my search history as well as all my tabs on my computer. He does this to multiple kids in the class if he suspects that the are not on task (playing games, watching youtube, etc.) then he will take your computer away. I feel that this is an extreme invasion of privacy.
A: For a young student, you demonstrate a pretty astute insight into the operation of privacy law. Based on the school district you describe, this sounds like something that attorneys in Canada (in particular, Toronto) are really best qualified to advise on. But your question remains open for a month. As a short answer that would apply in many places here in the U.S., if it was a school-issued computer, the school could usually dictate what students did with it, including limitations on video games, YouTube, etc., and they would be able to take it away (depending on school policy). For a computer privately owned by a family, schools would not usually interfere there. Good luck
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