Implementing an access controlled network of hubs

Fri, 18 Jan 2019 23:29:08 +0000

If I want to implement a network of school districts each with their own hub, is there a Hubzilla "standard" way to whitelist the authorized hubs or otherwise restrict the directory to a well-know set of hubs?

Thank you in advance,

Larry

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Waitman Gobble

Sat, 19 Jan 2019 00:08:30 +0000

There is a section in the help,

https://hub.zilla.tech/help/en/directories

You can configure hubzilla as an isolated diectory server. I tested this about 3 weeks ago and it works. However, someone with an 'outsider' account can log into your network using remote authentication. And probably vice-versa. So it's not a walled network.

There are sections in the admin provided to block by domain, etc, which may limit access.

If you want a totally isolated experience it would take some tinkering.

Sat, 19 Jan 2019 01:18:16 +0000

Thank you! That gives me a good place to start. I just might have to have the lads in our lab tinker a bit as we move forward. I see some value in K-12 education in walling off the network, or at least having a private network for everyone and a public network for for authorized individuals.

It might be useful contribution to the community if we can sort it out.

Thanks again for the help,

Larry

Waitman Gobble

Sat, 19 Jan 2019 01:38:33 +0000

I'll look at Zap in detail, it may be more suitable for that project.

Andrew

Sat, 19 Jan 2019 02:12:57 +0000

I want to implement a network of school districts each with their own hub

This is precisely the use case I promoted years ago as the kind of niche market that Hubzilla could satisfy better than other existing solutions, and my prediction is that by doing so, people would begin to see the bigger picture of what it could do. A school system is a great environment for Hubzilla. Each school is often fairly independent, and should have control over its hub (data, membership, policies); yet schools are interconnected in many ways, for example in the fact that often parents have children that attend different schools. Hubzilla would allow them to seamlessly authenticate to each school's hub to communicate with teachers and access information. When their child goes from middle to high school, that child should be able to take their "account" (that is, their identity) with them. Any connections and relationships they've made need not be lost just because they move schools. A major selling point is that since children are so involved, it is paramount that their privacy be protected and access controls be in place to ensure that their data is neither leaked nor sold for profit.

I could go on about the many ways a school system would benefit from using Hubzilla, as well as the ways the Hubzilla project would benefit from an such invested, dedicated and professional community. Suffice it to say that I wish you the best of luck @{larry@start.hubzilla.org}. Keep asking questions and persevere. There is solid gold here, but it needs time to understand it.

RockyIII

Sat, 19 Jan 2019 08:45:00 +0000 last edited: Sat, 19 Jan 2019 13:48:39 +0000

Andrew - all true - but do you know one school which is using HZ today?

Andrew

Sat, 19 Jan 2019 11:32:35 +0000

Andrew - all true - but do you no one school which is using HZ today?

No, and I am confident that there is not one. We would have seen discussions and questions about such a professional use of Hubzilla.

Sat, 19 Jan 2019 12:30:22 +0000 last edited: Sat, 19 Jan 2019 12:31:08 +0000

@RockyIII - I don't know many schools who didn't buy into the centralized commercial service model of "free" services. But I've talked with several different groups in numerous sectors who are sorry they did and now have a belly ache. So, I'm not sure that the current lack of a functioning install is all that indicative of anything.

RockyIII

Sat, 19 Jan 2019 13:43:10 +0000 last edited: Sat, 19 Jan 2019 13:43:53 +0000

NO - no indicative of anything

But i´m still looking for the "real reality" battle proof of HZ in a school.
I have a hard time to talk teachers (or so) into useing HZ, and finaly they ask: "Who is using it allready". that´s why I asked Andrew

hEARt PhoniX

Sat, 19 Jan 2019 18:48:47 +0000

This "Who is using it" question is as understandable as disheartening, someone has to be the first. And that nobody is using something yet does not mean it may be a valid solution. But it's an uphill battle, for sure.

Sat, 19 Jan 2019 19:35:48 +0000

Ah, understood.

"From the field" reports are always very helpful. As much as they say otherwise, people are generally not very independently minded - they follow herds.

RockyIII

Sat, 19 Jan 2019 21:56:48 +0000

people are generally not very independently minded - they follow herds.

certainly - if people are no Computer affine and busy in other fields - even more...

The understanding for alternative networking is very limited - change has to come...

hubadmin

Sun, 20 Jan 2019 00:19:59 +0000

In our use cases, the applications are not for teachers and students.

We are working with technology staff and administrators in school districts.  They routinely communicate, collaborate and exchange sensitive data
  (1) between themselves within a district for operational purposes,
  (2) with other school districts for sharing information and best practices,
  (3) with state departments of education for regulatory reporting and
  (4) with education technology vendors in order to properly configure applications.

Today, the IT environment tends to be archaic.  They use a lot of spreadsheets, email and shared drives like Google Drive.  I've seen private student information and admin login credentials shared in the clear via email. Un-encrypted spreadsheets are everywhere.  There is no way to audit when and where data is exposed.  And the general staff awareness of privacy and security is poor.

We are looking into ways to make school district collaboration more secure, more operationally efficient and auditable for regulatory compliance.  We also want to give them the option of housing their own data within their own school district resources yet have the ability to share subsets of their data in a secure, controlled manner.

Thanks again for the help.  Larry.

Sun, 20 Jan 2019 00:34:36 +0000

I think this is an even better use case for Hubzilla! I have a similar aim and plan for Hubzilla in the context of local but "federated" grass roots community groups. This is an area with some GREAT potential for Hubzilla.