College campuses are hothouses of data, including course schedules, degree requirements, and grades. But much of the information remains spread out across software systems or locked on university servers. Start-up companies want to pry the information loose from campus servers in order to offer personalized services that could transform the…

As new technologies emerge on campuses, how can colleges avoid legal land mines? What are the areas of greatest risk, and how should higher-education leaders deal with them? In this article, three experts offered their advice at the Technology Forum: Beth Cate, associate general counsel at Indiana University, on data privacy and security; Steven…

This article describes five organizational policies and behavior that put personal information in jeopardy. These are: (1) Inadequate security for old data; (2) Shadow systems and unregulated servers; (3) Unsophisticated privacy policies; (4) Improper use of Social Security numbers; and (5) Unsanitized old hard drives. Although the academic…

The USA Patriot Act is having far-reaching effects on the kinds of data that wind up on some academics' computers in Canada. Canadian colleges, responding to provincial laws passed in reaction to the Patriot Act, are preventing professors from entering the United States with students' private data on their laptops and limiting the locations of…

Describes why a new law requiring California colleges to warn people of security breaches involving their computerized personal data has administrators worried about both cost and liability. (EV)

Describes how many college officials are confused by the USA Patriot Act, a new anti-terrorism law that may affect campus networks and library records; they believe its provisions could raise privacy and academic freedom issues. (EV)

"Chronicle of Higher Education" presents an abundant source of news and information for colleges and university faculty members and administrators. This April 23, 2004 issue of "Chronicle of Higher Education" includes the following articles: (1) "Academe Must Work with the Intelligence Community" (Rindskopf, Elizabeth); (2) "Masked and Explicated:…

"Chronicle of Higher Education" presents an abundant source of news and information for college and university faculty members and administrators. This January 30, 2004 issue of "Chronicle for Higher Education" includes the following articles: (1) "Fighting to Get out of a Rio Slum" (Lloyd, Marion); (2) "Against…