On Mon, Nov 11, 2019 at 10:06 AM Kyle Breneman <[log in to unmask]>
wrote:

> My university has a program that offers classes at a nearby prison, and
> this program is about to get a bunch of new laptops.  As many of  you know,
> prisons are pretty restrictive and inflexible regarding technology...
>

My gut reaction would be to schedule a meeting with people who decide
what's acceptable.

Many things presented as security measures are really compliance issues.
This means engaging people can help you avoid problems outright, negotiate
paths through gray areas in ways that pass muster, and make people who'd
otherwise shoot you down part of the solution.

Many environments subscribe to "checkbox" security model. Failure to meet
required checkboxes or triggering undesirable ones gets you rejected. This
means your goal -- and the goal you present -- is to get all the right
boxes checked. Don't get too hung up on common sense or actual technical
merit.

You might want to have a couple approaches in your back pocket to propose
if the meeting goes really well. I suspect a more realistic expectation
would be to sent back to the drawing board. I'd avoid anything people might
have trouble processing like the plague. People always say no when they
don't know what's going on, and that can color future interactions with
you. Good luck on your project

kyle