The distinction of it being a business email address comes from an advisory paper written by UBC. I'm not sure that stipulation occurs in the provincial legislation we are governed by. Which is why I'm looking for a bit of clarity. Perhaps my question is a bit too location specific.
As for the public vs. walled garden issue, I couldn't agree more. The point of social tools is to be social and extend beyond the scope of the institution. I also love the idea of students being able to take the information with them when they leave. But before we can jump headfirst into this world, we really need feel comfortable that we as an institution, are doing what is required by the law in our province/country.
As Sylvia has pointed out, issues regarding where data is stored is also a concern. Our lawyers have pointed us to section 30 and 33 of the British Columbia Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, which might be of interest to some of you reading this in BC.
Clint Lalonde
Posts made by Clint Lalonde
This topic caught my attention since we are currently doing some research on the privacy implications of having our students sign up for accounts with hosted services.
One example we have been wrestling with is that, from my understanding of the law here in BC, a student's email address counts as personal information that institutions have an obligation to protect. Given that the vast majority of web based social tools require an email address to create an account, is it a breech to require students to use their email address to sign up for an account?
I've found some docs at SFU and UBC that are not specific to social tools, but advice on using web based survey tools. But some of the principles may be applicable to other web based tool. The UBC document specifically mentions email addresses...
"Email addresses are considered personal information, unless they are a business e-mail addresses, and cannot be disclosed to survey companies outside of Canada without the consent of the individuals."
Options we have been considering are to get the written consent of students before asking them to sign up for these tools and possibly hosting blogs and wikis internally. But there is administrative overhead to both of these. Plus, when we move beyond blogs and wikis to other tools, like del.icio.us or Google docs...well there is no way we can create and maintain tools like that in house. Nor would we want to create a walled garden when the whole point of these tools is transparency and potential collaboration with others.
I'm curious as to whether other institutions (particularly other BC based institutions) have defined institutional policies regarding using web based tools that require students to sign up for accounts and give up a piece of personal information.
Here are the links to the 2 documents regarding web tools from SFU and UBC.
SFU: http://www.sfu.ca/itservices/onlinetools/
UBC: http://www.webcommunications.ubc.ca/
Thanks,
Clint
One example we have been wrestling with is that, from my understanding of the law here in BC, a student's email address counts as personal information that institutions have an obligation to protect. Given that the vast majority of web based social tools require an email address to create an account, is it a breech to require students to use their email address to sign up for an account?
I've found some docs at SFU and UBC that are not specific to social tools, but advice on using web based survey tools. But some of the principles may be applicable to other web based tool. The UBC document specifically mentions email addresses...
"Email addresses are considered personal information, unless they are a business e-mail addresses, and cannot be disclosed to survey companies outside of Canada without the consent of the individuals."
Options we have been considering are to get the written consent of students before asking them to sign up for these tools and possibly hosting blogs and wikis internally. But there is administrative overhead to both of these. Plus, when we move beyond blogs and wikis to other tools, like del.icio.us or Google docs...well there is no way we can create and maintain tools like that in house. Nor would we want to create a walled garden when the whole point of these tools is transparency and potential collaboration with others.
I'm curious as to whether other institutions (particularly other BC based institutions) have defined institutional policies regarding using web based tools that require students to sign up for accounts and give up a piece of personal information.
Here are the links to the 2 documents regarding web tools from SFU and UBC.
SFU: http://www.sfu.ca/itservices/onlinetools/
UBC: http://www.webcommunications.ubc.ca/
Thanks,
Clint
Learning Outcome: Learners will create a glossary entry with details on one feature of Moodle.