Still haven't told your parents about that D in biology last semester? Turns out your past advisor and a number of others with access to your transcript could have done it for you. The recent flap over exactly who has access to sensitive information demonstrates the university needs to create stricter guidelines about personal information privacy.
The federal government comprehensively addressed this issue well before the age of Internet privacy. The Family Education Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 outlined specific guidelines for colleges and universities for use in handling student records. Certain directory information, similar to that found in the Tufts White Pages, can be released without student permission. But more sensitive data, like grades, cannot be distributed to anyone without student consent.
The laws are clear and have been for over a quarter century. But under the current system, it is possible that student academic records could be accessed by more people than are specifically allowed.
This week's New York Magazine claims that personal security is merely an illusion in modern times with its cover story on the death of privacy. To the magazine, it is an age where "Your employer owns your e-mails, [and] the NSA owns your phone calls ... your life is being lived in public whether you choose to acknowledge it or not." Taking a stand on increased SIS privacy is the first way to push back again this trend.
Fortunately, the TCU Senate has taken the first step toward restoring confidence in student privacy rights. But this is not enough. Coming into compliance with a necessary federal law is the minimum; going further to fix a broken culture of privacy is the only adequate way to address privacy comprehensively.
But this problem speaks to larger issue about student privacy on campus - especially with grades. This SIS oversight is just another aspect of a generally lax attitude that faculty and students have toward grades.
Most students routinely encounter a professor who is all too eager to have students pick up graded assignments from an empty office, box or table after class. Obviously, to find one's assignment, it's necessary to rummage through everyone else's graded work. This is the last way to respect student's work and their privacy. While it's certainly more expedient for a professor to let students scavenge through corrected essays and exams, it is not the right thing to do.
A student should be rest assured that only he or she and the professor have seen graded work. Luckily, this problem is more a result of convenience (or perhaps, for some professors, not knowing all the students' names) than a desire to break the spirit of the law. Taking those extra few minutes after class to personally distribute papers, however, can actually help the professor put a name with a face and ensure student privacy.
No one wants a campus where grades and personal information about our backgrounds are taboo subjects, yet there ought to be limits to what is shared and what is kept private. The ultimate goal should be to create a culture that respects privacy when needed but values openness when it is constructive - and legal.
