Beware The Campus Police

geisler writes: "According to the Chronicle of Higher Education, a professor at Virginia Tech had her computer seized so that university police could try to track down someone who emailed her. She was denied the chance to backup before the computer was taken, and there seems to be some differences in stories between her and the authorities."

Comments

BYOC

[Tadrith]

Sounds like this is a case of Bring Your Own Computer.

Their tactics were too heavy handed, and the situation could have been dealt with better, but if you're going to use a computer and expect privacy, the very first thing you should do is use your own computer! When you're using university property, the idea of "privacy" should be nonexistant.

It's still infuriating that people get pushed around like this, but this situation isn't exactly good grounds for a valid complaint.

The blurb on slashdot that holds hidden meaning...

[karnal]

I just read through the article briefly, after thinking to myself (probably like a lot of other readers) "That sucks -- it's her own machine, and they just came and took it?"

hmmm. As I read the article, I learned that the machine was "University issued".

And she got it back the next day. Apparently, they were looking for an e-mail regarding a vandalism incident.

Now, they could have just asked her for the information, and maybe it was a bit harsh to just up and take the computer, but it was university issued (means university owns it, tough cookies). Maybe the document was sensitive enough that they didn't want to give her the chance to delete it?

Bahhh!

[Deanasc]

The university owned the computer and it was returned. So this is really just a lesson in always backing up important files before the unfortunate event. Not after.

What's next? Nobel Prize Contending research lost when hard drive crashed.

Employers right to access company hardware trumps any privacy for the employee. The police were just doing their job. What if they let her erase important evidence?

Like it or not campus police work for the college and represent the authority of the college in these matters. I say good job.

Re:Bahhh!

[Deagol]

RTFA, dude!

One of her big concerns was that, as a professor of Women's Studies, she had a lot of confedential papers on her system. The backups seems to be a minor concern to her.

This wasn't a matter of the university getting to see her shopping list, but rather material from students that thought only she alone would have access to.

Protecting a student's discussion of past rape or abuse trumps a mere $10k in grafiti cleanup, in my book.

Re:Bahhh!

[Deanasc]

I did read the article. The fact is she was using university issued equipment. If she had discussions of past rapes on the machine she didn't seem too concerned about the police seeing them. She only wanted to back up the machine before they took it.

As for discussing rape via the college email system, well, that's just a bad idea. Something so sensative should be discussed in person. For no other reason than this.

Re:Bahhh!

[duffbeer703]

So I guess if an employee discussed a sensitive subject in a company-owned office, the police should be allowed to record the conversation?

How about conversations held while walking down a public road? Should the police install listening devices on telephone poles? Should you expect privacy on a government highway?

Professional employees should have rights in regard to personal and confidential coorespondence in the office.

Students views..

[bpb213]

Ok, even me (a student) have to agree with the university on this one.

Do you expect privacy on a work computer in any industry? Of course not. If you dont own said computer, dont expect any rights to it.

And as for the teacher worried about explaining why her personal life was on it, i would ask, why are you even doing anything that could be considered personal on a work computer? cmon, you should know better.

Encryption?

[pcmills]

If she was so concerned about the privacy of her files, encryption would have been a good place to start.

Re:Encryption?

[duffbeer703]

That is outrageous.

Certain facets of a work computer should be considered personal property. Your home directory should be considered the electronic equivilant of a locker.

Re:Umm

[Deanasc]

What we need in this country is some basic respect for law and order. If we let these punks get away with breaking vandalism laws in protest marches then why not let vigilante groups hack to death any man they find who might have raped someone. After all the students feel compelled to do something about the rape problem. In the mean time I haven't raped anyone but have to look at graphitti where the intent is to make me feel guilty for crimes I didn't commit.