The internet’s success, like any good thing, is a double-edged sword, and now that sword is piercing college campuses. In recent months, universities across the United States have had multiple incidents with Facebook.
First, a student from Oklahoma posted a comment about President Bush on a “Bush Sucks” group on Facebook, and a few months later received a visit from the Secret Service. At the university level, a student government president at Fisher College made comments on Facebook about a campus police officer who he felt was antagonizing students. He encouraged students to sign a petition to oust the officer. Even though it was not a clear threat, the student was expelled and found in violation of Fisher College’s code of conduct.
In addition, at Penn State last year university police used Facebook to identify and prosecute fans who rushed a football field after a win. Pictures that were posted in online photo albums, videos, and member groups on Facebook were all looked at by officers to identify as many fans as possible. One student was specifically told that she could face up to two years in jail and a $2,000 fine from the university.
This shouldn’t be surprising, because universities are only utilizing what students put in the public domain. Senior Judicial Adminstrator and Associate Dean of Students Travis Apgar is surprised that students fail to realize that what they put online is public domain and that anyone can look at it, not just their peers, but potential employers.
Each time Facebook is accessed or used, you accept the practices described in its privacy policy. In accordance with that policy, “you are consenting to have your personal data transferred to and processed in the United States.”
With this statement comes the third party policy in which Facebook clearly says that they do not provide contact information to third party marketers with out permission unless it is reasonably necessary, legally required, or permitted by the user.
Facebook feels that they will share account information when they believe it is necessary to comply with the law, to protect their interests or property, to prevent the fraud or other illegal activity perpetrated through Facebook or using Facebook name, or to prevent imminent bodily harm. This includes sharing information with other companies, lawyers, or government agencies.
So now that Facebook can, without permission, give away personal information if needed, what approach is Rensselaer taking? According to Apgar, this has been a big topic of debate among universities. Some schools are taking strong stances on the issue and are against obtaining evidence from online sources, while other schools are going through the websites and using them against their students. Currently, Rensselaer’s stance is at a medium between those two extremes, and they are taking the Facebook issue on a case by case basis.
So far on campus there have been no cases involving Facebook. There was, however, a non-judicial incident a few years ago with an online journal with offensive material that discussed another student. The Dean of Student’s Office mediated the issue.
DOSO’s approach to information on the Internet is as if they saw it on the street, however, they do not specifically search Facebook for information. The only time the Internet would come into a judicial investigation would be if it was brought to DOSO’s attention with a violation is so offensive and evidence was needed.
Apgar said that in the six years he’s been here, there have only been two to three judicial cases resulting from online pictures. He made it clear, however, that the pictures have in all instances been found by accident or sent to the DOSO.
As a response to this, some students are no longer posting pictures with red cups, usually filled with alcohol. Some parties have gone as far as to not allow cameras anymore as a way to prevent any issues concerning pictures being posted on Facebook.
Dean Wickiewicz, the greek dean, echoed the same sentiments as Apgar concerning the use of the Internet for judicial investigations. She stands strong on only using the Internet if absolutely necessary and depending on a criminal act. Wickiewicz was stern in saying that neither she nor her office has ever used Facebook, however, she did say that RCS webpages are looked at.
Both deans expressed concerns about how much information students are putting online. Not only do they feel it’s unsafe, but it could be detrimental to student’s future careers because employers are now are actively looking at Facebook, myspace, and Google to screen potential employees to see who they really are.
Dean Apgar wants students to think outside of what’s fair and unfair, private and not private online. Students need to be aware that more than their peers are looking at their websites; their image portrayal is at stake to not only peers, or school administrators but also employers.
To avoid problems with school administration and future employers, the amount of information and degree of privacy can be controlled by the user. Chris Hughes, a spokesperson for Facebook, said, “I can’t give out any information on any individual user without her/his permission. I can say that we have a pretty simple message for students who are bothered by the faculty behavior you describe.”
His advice, “Change your privacy settings. If users do not want faculty or staff to see their profile information, all they have to do is go to the “My Privacy” section and change their settings. They can make it so that only students can see the info or even so that only friends can. Users have complete control over who can see what.”
