Transcript Main Title

Web Applications: Get a Grip on Privacy
Michael Corn
CAMP 2008
Outline







Relationship to Identity Management
Free Speech
Privacy
Censorship Concerns
Visibility and Public use of Resources
Outsourcing
Hosting or Linking to External Content
Relationship to Identity Management
 Relatively few unique challenges
– Most content is user generated
– Students are surprisingly savvy about privacy matters
 http://www.pewinternet.org/pdfs/PIP_Teens_Privacy
_SNS_Report_Final.pdf
 Greatest challenges are
–
–
–
–
the demand for “opaque authentication”
desire for public visibility
desire for public interaction (esp. blogs)
faculty expectations of technology
Privacy
 Privacy and the Web do not have to be
orthogonal, but try very hard to be so
 FERPA, FERPA, FERPA
– Misinformation
 Faculty behavior implies that pedagogical
concerns trump personal privacy
 Opaque authentication - few (if any) tools
 See FERPA Scenarios
Privacy II
 Link to your campus Privacy policy or whatever serves that
purpose
 It should include:
–
–
–
–
–
–
What data web sites may collect
Survey's that take place on the web
Public discussion forums
eCommerce
FERPA, SSNs, Cookies, and other security matters
Legal conditions (warranties and liability).
 Illinois’s Web Privacy Notice:
http://www.vpaa.uillinois.edu/policies/web_privacy.asp
Free Speech
 Understand the ‘limits’ on the use of your
resources
– Political campaigning (policy and Illinois State law)
– Commercial activity
 All forms of communication can be construed as
part of the educational environment - but not
everywhere
 Define the purpose and scope of a service
Free Speech II
 Creating a Terms of Use (ToU) statement;
 Communicating the ToU to the consumers and
ensuring they acknowledge its receipt; and
 Responding to violations in a timely yet
transparent fashion
Guidelines for creating a Terms of Use
http://www.uiuc.edu/alwaysillinois/terms
https://agora.cs.uiuc.edu/x/AR
Censorship Concerns
 Before deploying a Wiki or blog, consider the
following:
– Are you concerned that individuals will use your forums
to disparage your unit?
– Are you prepared to face individuals whose content you
have removed and explain why said content is
unprofessional and/or inappropriate?
– Are you prepared to sanction individuals who
consistently violate your ToU by prohibiting their use of
the resource?
– What is your comfort level for critical speech or
aggressive disagreement being displayed on your
resource?
Visibility and Public use of Resources
 Electronic resources should be made visible only
to those population using those resources.
– Require authentication to your resource (a login and
password) and limit access and visibility
– Control search engines
 If your resource is open to the public Internet by
design, then it is even more critical to address
the issue of a Terms of Use statement before
users can access the resource.
Hosting or Linking to External Content
 Scenario: Faculty/staff/student/alumni is doing
fieldwork and blogging about it using a
commercial service; your public affairs office (or
the department) wants to feature the blog on
their web site - what issues are you facing?
– Permission to include content
– Appropriateness of content (watch for commercial
sponsorship)
– Privacy of individuals in photos
– Use of ‘departure flag’ for links to non-University
resources
Outsourcing
 General Principles:
– Data stored on third-party servers or systems must be secured
to at least the same degree as the Campus or University
would meet.
– Student data and access to systems by students will require
vetting by the Campus Security Office and the Office of
Admissions and Records to ensure compliance with FERPA and
other campus security and privacy related policies.
– The burden this brings to vendors is non-trivial; many vendors
simply will not be able to comply with the high-standard the
Campus has for security and confidential or high-risk data.
 See Sample Procurement Language
Summary






Create a service description document (SDD) that identifies the
users of the service (both participants and observers) and a
description of what the purpose of the service is (e.g., "to build a
sense of community among our graduate students" or "to discuss
topics relevant to rocket science").
Create a Terms of Use document.
Place a link to the ToU on every web page or in the 'signature
block' of any auto-generated email messages.
Place a link to your University’s Privacy Policy on the main pages
of your service.
Create a mechanism for users to report inappropriate usage. This
can be as simple as the email address for the individual
responsible for the service or a form that permits anonymous
reporting.
Be very careful about outsourcing arrangements.
Resources
 Guidelines for Writing a Terms of Use
– https://netfiles.uiuc.edu/xythoswfs/webui/_xy-27100251_2-t_iA5QhDUx
 Sample Procurement Language
– https://netfiles.uiuc.edu/xythoswfs/webui/_xy-27100249_2-t_bvKcsRzh
 Guidelines for Wikis and Blogs (written version of this
presentation)
– https://netfiles.uiuc.edu/xythoswfs/webui/_xy-27100252_2-t_eMOLgXmi
 FERPA Scenarios
– https://netfiles.uiuc.edu/xythoswfs/webui/_xy-27100250_2-t_AUdATNzA
 Feel free to contact me: Mike Corn [email protected]