The following should not be taken as legal advice. The author is not a lawyer.

If you are sharing files, you do not have privacy. This is not a BranScan issue, this is a real-world issue. If you are sharing files ona public network, anyone on that network can see that the files are being shared, and from which computer. People with access to information about network topology (such as ITS) can determine where the sharing computer is located. People with access to UNet databases (again, ITS) can see to whom the computer is registered.

There is no way to know what might happen if you are "caught". Here is what has happened in the past: people sharing files on services such as Kazaa have been scanned by agents of the RIAA or MPAA. Those agents have then sent a letter to the University's DMCA agent, that person has shut off the specific computer's access to the network. Once the offending files are removed, access has been restored. No one at Brandeis has ever yet gone to jail or been kicked out of the school for sharing files.

Anything on a network can be monitored. It is technically possible to monitor all network traffic. It is not easy to do so, and generally is not desirable to do so. By using the Brandeis network, you have to trust ITS to some extent -- they have the technical capability to read your email, check your personal information, steal your passwords, or impersonate you online. But they don't. We know several people in ITS. They take their jobs, and the trust they are given, very seriously. However, if compelled by court order or other outside influence, it is possible for them to monitor what you do online. This is why it is good to follow the law as much as possible.

BranScan can help the FBI do their job. This system is a database of shared files. Because of the very nature of this system, as a catalog of all files shared on the Brandeis network, it is possible, although unlikely, that a law enforcement agency or other agent could use this system to see what people are sharing. Of course, they could also use ShareScan.

Visitors are safe. BranScan keeps absolutely no record of visitors, except for the following information: We know you've visited. For statistical purposes, BranScan keeps a listing of every computer IP address that has visited the site, the last time that computer has visited, and the number of times that computer has visited. We know people have searched. BranScan keeps track of every search performed. But it does not have any way to link a search to a person.

We want to keep you safe. We keep no records linking visitors to search queries. Keeping such records serves no purpose for us and is a needless waste of system resources. We do keep aggregate data on what searches are performed and how many unique visitors have used this site. We will not release any of this information (except such as is publically available on the stats page) without a court order or other credible instrument.

Any questions, comments, and correspondance can be directed to the site owner, cog@brandeis.edu .