As a student, I believe that my information in education should only be viewed by people that have received permission and those that need to see my academics to provide a service or recommendations. For example, I believe it is can be beneficial that the professor shares a student’s grades with academic advisors to help create a plan to improve a student’s learning. An example of a violation of privacy would involve a professor releasing the grades of a student to the entire class using their first and last name as the identifying factor. I believe that using student numbers retains privacy as many students cannot identify one another by just their student number.

After a quick Google search using “UVic privacy policy”, I was able to reach a page that contains multiple policies that help protect students and personal information handled by the university. Before doing this search, I was aware of the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (FIPPA) and the contents of its policy. Overall, UVic’s privacy & access pages are very simple to reach and the content is easily digestible.

I was surprised about the use of surveillance systems to assist with the application of university policies. While I believe surveillance systems should be used when improving personal safety and for criminal investigations, I am concerned on the use of these systems for engaging university policies. This statement in the Protection of Privacy Policy Section 35 (d) is very ambiguous and can have loopholes to promote the use of surveillance systems.

Self-Reflection

I chose this activity because I took a Health Informatics privacy course during the summer. While in that HINF course, we were expected to read through government documentation, including FIPPA which was mentioned in UVic’s privacy policies. While engaging with this activity, I was able to learn about UVic and its stance on the use of personal information. I am happy to learn that privacy policies for UVic are easily accessible and I hope that my fellow peers take a quick look at UVic’s policies in the case of any confusion.