Pop goes privacy at Oz Universities

The Council of Australian Postgraduate Associations (CAPA), together with the Sydney University Postgraduate Representative Association (SUPRA) and the NSW Council for Civil Liberties, have announced a campaign to protect the privacy of staff and students at Australian universities. Their privacy is threatened by action undertaken in the Federal Court by Hollywood multinationals in the case of Sony and others v University of Sydney and others.

CAPA President Benjamin McKay said, "Not only is the autonomy of the university challenged yet again, but the very foundations of academic freedom and the role of the university as a sanctuary for knowledge and the exchange of ideas and opinions is at peril. This time it is not government that is eroding the independence of both universities and students and academics, but multinational corporations with their hubs in Hollywood."

"The internet was developed initially as a tool for the exchange of knowledge in the global university sector. Now wealthy multinationals are asking Australian universities to act as watchdogs and police officers on their behalf," he went on. "If the universities simply set themselves up as internet service providers they would have no greater right to monitor internet usage or email correspondence than say Telstra or Optus. This would free them from a policing role on behalf of recording and motion picture industry moguls."

Matt Hall, President of the Sydney University Postgraduate Representative Association said: "Incredibly, some universities have responded by simply providing the information the record companies asked for, without considering the privacy of students or their legal obligations to keep personal information about students confidential."

The President of the NSW Council for Civil Liberties, Cameron Murphy said: "Universities in New South Wales are subject to the Privacy and Personal Information Protection Act 1998. They cannot simply hand over personal information of commercial interest without consent. Similar legislation exists in other States."

"Telephone calls can't be recorded without permission or intercepted without a warrant issued by a judge and neither should electronic communication."

Mr Murphy went on to say that universities "should be regulated by the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman in relation to their IT facilities. At present, most Australian universities are not even registered with that body, although they are legally required to register."

CAPA President Benjamin McKay believes that "universities that make deals under pressure with these industry giants are spineless and evidently don't realise the long term ramifications of such deals. This will be a long campaign, but in the end the rights of citizens, including academics and students, will ultimately prevail. I feel the universities are being rather narrow and fearful here and have not fully explored their options under the current laws. Caving in to resource rich multinationals is an assault on the autonomy and integrity of Australian Higher Education."