“What expectation of privacy should students have?“
Students should expect that their personal information and data will be safeguarded and protected at all costs. The vast amount of sensitive information contained in student data, including names, dates of birth, addresses, SSNs, grades, gender, attendance records, information about parents, biometric data, and other details, makes it imperative that it be kept secure at all times, particularly when using third-party services that may infringe on students’ privacy in a number of different ways.
“When is it acceptable or appropriate for institutions or instructors to engage in actions or to use tools that may challenge student privacy?“
Collaboration, creation, and idea sharing between teachers and students are now easier than ever thanks to technological tools and applications. Teachers and frequently the businesses that offer applications and online services acquire student data, including some personal information, when schools employ technology. Some of this information is used by educators to guide their educational strategies and better understand their learners. Both protecting and assisting students in their learning are necessary for educators to do. While it would be very challenging to completely avoid using any technology tools in order to protect students’ privacy, it is important to prioritise those that have been approved for use by the university or school and limit the use of unapproved third-party tools, which may violate students’ privacy in a number of different ways.
“How easy to find, access and understand were the privacy policies that you uncovered?“
It was easy to find, access and understand the policies around the use of third-part services. The policy says ” The university will require a third party service provider whose work on behalf of the university involves the collection, use or Disclosure of Personal Information to abide by this policy, the Privacy Protection Schedule, and FIPPA in its handling of personal information on behalf of the university, and may require the service provider to sign a confidentiality agreement [1].” This is comforting since the third-party services are obligated to abide by the agreements or risk being sued.
“Before searching for them, were you aware of these policies?“
I was not aware of all of UVic’s privacy policies before to looking them up, but it is reassuring to know that students’ privacy is safeguarded and that they can rely on UVic to do so.
Self Reflection
The major reason I chose this particular task was to research and educate myself on the educational privacy laws in Canada. My learning objectives were matched by this assignment because I learnt new information regarding privacy laws in education. Among the things I learnt was that third-party service providers must abide by the Privacy Protection Schedule, FIPPA, and/or sign a confidentiality agreement with UVic.
References
[1] https://www.uvic.ca/universitysecretary/assets/docs/policies/GV0235.pdf
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