More attention for privacy at the UG

Last month, we started the discussion about the university and privacy in an opinion piece. As the university is no longer just a building and offers all kind of online services, it is always close. That’s pleasant when looking up an article or handing in an assignment. The flipside is that the University gets to know you pretty well and can use that knowledge to make predictions. If you understand a certain chapter, if you will pass the course and if you will have a study delay. Everything is still optional, but it is the question if you will have a choice in the future and won’t be told by an algorithm that you can’t make your exam ‘because you didn’t study enough during the lecture weeks’. Whatever the future holds: students should be involved in the discussion about their data and the use of it by the university and others.

We had a pub lecture on March 20th about this subject together with Study Association ASCI of Information Science. Koen Konings of NORD Advocacy gave a very understandable introduction into the basics of privacy law and started the discussion about privacy. Afterwards, Tim van den Belt took over. Being a student assistant at Nestorsupport, he was able to give us an insight into how the UG uses student data for things like learning analytics. He also told about the impact of the new European privacy regulations on student organisations.

During the lecture, it was pointed out that Nestor made use of Google Analytics, a service for collecting anonymous user statistics. Even though these data are meant to see how often Nestor is used and by which devices, it offered Google the opportunity to track students around Nestor and show them targeted advertisements on, for example, tutoring on other sites. We think that shouldn’t be the case. Nestor should offer a safe learning environment, without the burning eyes of advertisers looking over your shoulder during studying.

The Board of Directors luckily agreed. Not long before the meeting, Google Analytics was removed from Nestor. Furthermore, they agreed that students should be involved in the discussions about their data. We offered the example of the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, that recently wrote a clear Code of Conduct that explains which data is collected, how it is used and why in layman’s terms. The Board was happy with our suggestion and will look into bringing a similar document to the UG. We will keep a close eye on student privacy, but we are happy for now with the positive answers from the Board.