Jeopardizing Our Privacy

By Guardian Staff

The University of California Office of the President appeared to have a busy summer installing surveillance software on all the university’s computers. According to the SF Chronicle, UC President Janet Napolitano ordered the installation of software that can save data from all incoming and outgoing emails in the entire UC system. It also tracks websites that computer users visit. This was done without informing the faculty and student population at each of the nine UCs. When several faculty members at UC Berkeley got wind of this information, they were understandably upset. UCOP has undoubtedly infringed upon the students and faculty members’ right to privacy with its implementation of surveillance.

The lack of transparency makes this especially abhorrent. UCOP gave no warning for the installation of security software as it began to monitor digital traffic in secrecy, according to the New York Times. Furthermore, no fair explanation of their decision has been provided. If it is necessary to track email correspondences — including personal web and email usage — there must be a reason for this security measure. Instead, there has been an utter lack of open discussion between UCOP and the public on this matter.

When confronted by 11 UC Berkeley professors demanding the surveillance program be halted, Napolitano’s staff responded with a five-page letter rife with excuses and weak justifications. On Jan. 19, they stated that “With respect to privacy, the letter and structure of the University’s Electronic Communications Policy reflect the principle that privacy perishes in the absence of security.” If this is to be believed, the public should be well informed on the basic practices of the security system. In stark contrast to feeling safer, the UCSD Guardian’s Editorial Board feels hoodwinked by UCOP. Since this system claims to protect our privacy, rather than infringe upon it, why has its development been cloaked in ambiguity?

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[Source]: UCSD Guardian