A Study of Student Privacy Issues at Stanford University

摘要

Based on our study, we suggest Stanford University should put greater emphasis on increasing awareness of student privacy issues through literature distribution and educational programs. Students should be partially responsible for their own protection by revealing less information on personal Web space; controlling what information is shared with the campus community and with the outside world; specifying access permissions are read-only when sharing files; and being mindful not to provide sensitive information when using cluster computers. Regarding legal and policy issues, we recommend Stanford officials limit the types of subpoenas that warrant disclosure of student information; establish a formal interpretation of FERPA and educate all parties about it; and expand the university's Principles of Privacy to address privacy issues that will protect students from other students, faculty, and staff. Furthermore, we suggest the Security Office keep an audit log to ensure proper use of access privileges. Finally, Stanford's privacy policy should be revised and made easily accessible as soon as possible. We hope other universities will conduct similar analyses of student computer and network privacy issues and make serious attempts to improve student privacy protection on their campuses.