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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."
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.
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?
Karnal
Quote: "Going by the logic of those cops, the university can confiscate basically any documents stored in our offices (as we use office paper), confidential letters (on official letter pads) and e-mail messages (university software, again), and tap into our phone messages (on the phone machines) as well: without any specific formal legal mandate or explanation or prior notice or warrant." NO SHIT. Anything you do at work(or working @ home) while using your employers property is considered owned by your employer, and you are not entitled to an expectation of privacy while using it. I wonder what these idiots think of the DMCA?
She had plenty of opportunity to make a backup before the Police seized her computer. If her hard drive had crashed, she would be in the same position now. While it is horrible when the authorities abuse their power, and nothing excuses that, she has no right to complain about not having a backup when she needs one.
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.
I've hit Karma 50 and gotten a Score:5, Troll... I win!
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.
This
This is no different than companies using spyware to monitor employees, or reading their email or whatever. The computer, if given to the professor, is the property of the university, and they can do with it what they wish, including reading her email. Would I be annoyed if this happened to me? Sure, but what could I do about it? Now if this was her private computer it would be another matter.
But people will still get into a lather over this I'm sure.
And just because she deleted it; doesn't necessarily mean it is gone. Deleting files on a harddrive doesn't necessarily imply that the space had been reallocated; all it means is that the blocks have been unlinked.
On the other hand, doing ANYTHING to her computer in the meantime (even booting it) will create temporary files which can overlap the deleted data and reduce the chances of recovering anything.
-WolfWithoutAClause
"Gravity is only a theory, not a fact!"If she was so concerned about the privacy of her files, encryption would have been a good place to start.
Ask Slashdot - google for stupid people.
Would we feel any different if this were a corporation searching a machine? The University owned the machine and can do what they want with it. Of course, not letting her back it up is just plain mean.
THIS SPACE FOR RENT
What I want to know is why the university police made such a big deal about anti-rape "vandalism".
As for the student's work, I know my lab notebooks become property of the college at the end of the semester. (even though I paid for the notebook) I'm sure whatever rule that allows this in science courses can cover any other course. I don't see any reason why any other work done should be kept secret from the university. Try calling your PhD. thesis your own secret.
Did anyone do anything wrong here? The police have the obligation to do their job. Should the DEA not do their job if it embarasses the CIA? Maybe someone is lying and we don't have the full story.
The police should do their job and nail those punk assed hooligans. They don't have the right to trash the campus. Failing to identify the lawbreakers when their identity became known to her makes the professor and accessory after the fact. Who should be embarassed?
I've hit Karma 50 and gotten a Score:5, Troll... I win!
Uhm. How often does the average user empty their "trash can", or even their "deleted" email folder? I don't think they had to go through alot of effort to get that email, really...
Tomorrow will be cancelled due to lack of interest
Think Signal 11 towards the end...
Anyway, this guy was a pest and one night, as the sys admins and I were chatting via talk, he logged into the VAX and then the BBS as, I'll never forget this, "Carl Marks". So, he's not well read, either. We decided to tell him to cut it out once and for all. Looking at the port he logged into we traced his incoming session to an on-campus extension (if only he had come from outside the campus network by dialing out to one of the external phone numbers for community use, we never could have identified him) and dialed his room number -- busy. We got him.
What to do? We called the residence hall manager and asked if so-and-so roomed in the room we traced the call to. Sure enough, it was our little troll. We then asked the manager to tell the student to stop using the campus system under an assumed name.
The main sys admin, knowing the manager was on his way up to the room, initiated a talk session with "Carl Marks" and told him the gig was up, we knew who he was and where he roomed, and we were having the authorities come and shut him down. Carl didn't believe us. He talked trash to the sys admin (I can't recall his name) -- this was before "suxors" talk -- and said, "Ha ha, find me."
Here's where things went awry. The residence hall manager, not understanding what we were talking about, decided we were reporting someone hacking into the schools computers. He called the campus police. They came with guns drawn.
The type-fest continnued. "Carl" said, where are you? Taunting us for saying someone was on the way. Basically, the cops were clearing the floor in case of gun fire and were thusly delayed. Suddenly, "Carl" said, "Shit. Someone's at the door. They say they're the police." Sure enough, the campus police, with guns drawn, were banging on the door. When the manager opened the door, they shouted, "Put your hands up and step away fromthe computer." The kid peed in his pants.
After a few minutes "Carl's" talk session started again: "Thank you we have apprehended the suspect" - typed by one of the officers. The manager called the main sys admin and filled in the details above. The kid was arrested and brought to the station. His computer was confiscated. Eventually, Carl dropped out of UNT do to the stress caused by this event.
Our intention was to scare him, but not with the campus police. We explained that he wasn't hacking, but merely using the system's services inappropriately after ample warning. The Dean of Students talked with him - I don't know how that went. The manager went overboard, and the police overreacted.
But we had one heck of a good laugh.
-- @rjamestaylor on Ello
It pretty much lays down the law: that the college can pretty much read anything that is on their computer, or their servers. Since I think that VT is public (owned by Virginia), they have to follow the same general ideas with their guidelines.
Since they were forced to comply with FOI, the professor had no real expectation of privacy, as she knew that someone may eventually read her files, or anything on the server, at any time to comply with Freedom of Information requests.
Now, if this is a private college, we have something else on our hands.
You know who I think is crazy? All my ex-girlfriends!
VA Tech is a State School. Unlike the security department of a private employer, it's Police are State actors. As such, they are indeed constrained by the 4th Amendment, and any parallel language in the State Constitution.
Justice Scalia, in Krillo, the heat imaging case a year ago, still cites Katz (any relation?) favorably "As Justice Harlans oft-quoted concurrence described it, a Fourth Amendment search occurs when the government violates a subjective expectation of privacy that society recognizes as reasonable."
Widely accepted professional doctrines of Acedemic Freedom, as benchmarks of social expectations, can thus trump the University's Acceptable Use Policies.
Ben Masel: 51,282 votes for US Senate in the Wisconsin Democratic Primary