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.

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!

[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.

Re:Bahhh!

[Deanasc]

Well you said it. They *should* have rights. Time and again the courts show that employees have no rights. Until the day comes where we see a reversal I will conduct myself at school or in industry (I'm in school) as if I'm being watched.

As for your specious reasoning with the other points, there is a law that police need wiretap warrants to listen to cellphones as you drive down the highway but do not need a warrant to listen to someone with a parabolic microphone or photograph in a public place.

As of last September I'm not sure if they still need the warrant.

In any event if you don't like the status quo then change it. Don't bitch about it. As for me, I conduct myself as if I'm under survailence whenever I'm outside my house. Which I do agree makes me a tool of the man but at least I'm on the winning team.

Re:Bahhh!

[Bouncings]

This is different. First of all, owning something does not give you unlimited access to it. My land lord cannot summarily inspect my apartment. If I lease a car, Toyota can't take it back at any given time. Ownership alone is not justification, by any means.

Secondly, the police weren't just doing their jobs, they were doing their jobs poorly. Typically campus police are the worst of the police force and have authority issues. They were investigating ONE EMAIL and needed her entire computer? That's not very reasonable. Does your ISP take your computer away to investigate an email? No.

If I sound biased, it's because I am. I've observed that campus police don't have real jobs for a reason. Anyone who spends five minutes with one of these people cannot retain respect for them, IMHO.

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.

Reply to Almost Every Comment

[bmasel]

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.