SACUA assembles privacy committees

By Lisa Hoffman

Daily Staff Reporter

Efforts by the University's Civil Liberties Board Privacy Sub-Committee to increase safety and privacy for students, staff and faculty are slowly becoming a reality, according to committee representatives present at yesterday's Senate Assembly Committee on University Affairs meeting.

"We are all entitled to equal protection because our society permits discrimination," sub-committee Chairwoman Ann Larimore said. "People's identities can be compromised and violated. It comes down to making the University a safer place for academic freedom no matter who you are."

Larimore worries that with sexual harassment and discriminatory acts on campus, potential for violent acts will always exist.

Efforts to guarantee more privacy to students include the switch last spring from social security numbers to University identification numbers found on student M-Cards.

"There seem to be two issues: The growing problem of current privacy and the inherent problem with who reviews the concerns of University community members," sub-committee member Joseph Holoshitz said.

Currently, one committee exists to investigate and carry out the results of investigations dealing with the use of the Internet and the abuse of technology. "The duality of bodies is inconsistent with proper handling of these situations," Holoshitz said.

The sub-committee proposed two advisory committees with overlapping duties to remedy the current dual power situation. One of the committees would oversee campus safety education including privacy and represent faculty, staff and students. "We will hit the tip of the iceberg unless we monitor, prevent and educate the community about the privacy problem," Holoshitz said.

The second committee would be a complete resolution committee that would entertain problems, gather a sense of who complains and discover what complaints exist, sub-committee member David Blair said. With daily advancements in technology, the privacy of those in the University community continues to be challenged.

"There are people who have no use of the files, but have access to them," SACUA Vice-Chairman Mojtaba Navvab said.

"We hope to solve and prevent problems, including preventing problems that will lead to lawsuits and threats," sub-committee member Phil Margolis said.

The sub-committee has not had the opportunity to meet with University President Lee Bollinger. To solve some of these privacy issues, Margolis said, "We hope to build a network of communication, respect and trust."

"If it takes higher standards to do tasks, it is worthwhile to protect people's privacy," Larimore said. "It is important to academic freedom and creativity."