2008 Woodie Awards
Is MySJU for your eyes only?
Charles Wester '07
Issue date: 11/10/06 Section: News
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Recent inquiries into the nature of academic freedom and the University's electronic surveillance capabilities have alarmed some students, who are concerned about the privacy of their e-mail and Internet histories.
Saint Joseph's network administrators can track student and faculty Internet use, including MySJU e-mail accounts, and may divulge private information to law enforcement agencies if requested. According to two network administrators, however, these surveillance capabilities are rarely employed.
In a conference call interview on Oct. 31, Joseph Petragnani, Assistant Vice President for Information Technology, and Jay Deckman, Saint Joseph's Portal Administrator, explained that although the University has the resources to track student and faculty internet use, this is only done in rare circumstances.
"Rare circumstances," according to Petragnani, means that "Information Technology will only track Internet use upon a specific request from an outside law enforcement agency," and after this request is approved by the Office of Public Safety and Security and University Council.
"If we have a legal obligation, we are going to comply with it," Petragnani added, alluding to a provision of the USA PATRIOT Act, which mandates compliance to federal search warrants for electronic devices.
"If [law enforcement] suspects a network user of criminal activity and thinks that tracking that student's Internet use will help, we will turn those tracking features on," he continued, noting that Information Technology would not be aware of the nature of such an investigation.
Once activated, the surveillance features allow law enforcement to track every site visited by the network user in question, students and faculty alike.
Petragnani stressed that Information Technology's tracking powers are not used indiscriminately. "These situations are quite rare," he remarked. "We only collect this data when legally required."
Saint Joseph's network administrators can track student and faculty Internet use, including MySJU e-mail accounts, and may divulge private information to law enforcement agencies if requested. According to two network administrators, however, these surveillance capabilities are rarely employed.
In a conference call interview on Oct. 31, Joseph Petragnani, Assistant Vice President for Information Technology, and Jay Deckman, Saint Joseph's Portal Administrator, explained that although the University has the resources to track student and faculty internet use, this is only done in rare circumstances.
"Rare circumstances," according to Petragnani, means that "Information Technology will only track Internet use upon a specific request from an outside law enforcement agency," and after this request is approved by the Office of Public Safety and Security and University Council.
"If we have a legal obligation, we are going to comply with it," Petragnani added, alluding to a provision of the USA PATRIOT Act, which mandates compliance to federal search warrants for electronic devices.
"If [law enforcement] suspects a network user of criminal activity and thinks that tracking that student's Internet use will help, we will turn those tracking features on," he continued, noting that Information Technology would not be aware of the nature of such an investigation.
Once activated, the surveillance features allow law enforcement to track every site visited by the network user in question, students and faculty alike.
Petragnani stressed that Information Technology's tracking powers are not used indiscriminately. "These situations are quite rare," he remarked. "We only collect this data when legally required."
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