These aspects of maintaining the security of computer-processed information concerning mental health patients are discussed: legal protection, technological safeguards, and managerial responsibility. (CTM)

Raises several policy issues concerning interactive cable television, including the role of government and the regulation powers, and the implications of telecommunication/social service system concerning privacy and confidentiality, approaches to electronic opinion polling, and the potential widening of the information gap between rich and poor.…

It is proposed that the current norm of privacy surrounding child-rearing practices should be shifted toward greater openness and freer communication. The rationale for this proposal is considered in terms of society's responsibility toward the child and in terms of current psychological and legal views of the function of privacy. (Author/AM)

Today's privacy/disclosure issues have been defined by a series of court decisions that illustrate adaptation to social change. Development of surveillance technology, increased use of individual testing, and interconnected computers have allowed abuses of individual privacy rights to which the law has recently responded. (Editor/LBH)

Examines court cases dealing with charges of harassment, trespass, and invasion of privacy against reporters who ventured onto private property to gather news; proposes a test for such cases that would weigh the public interest in the particular information obtained against the nature of the intrusion. (GW)

The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 sets the basic standards for disclosure of data in educational records. The manner in which data are to be classified within the records is to be determined by local policy. This article describes the Massachusetts regulations on student data classification. (Author/GC)

This article reports on the Massachusetts experience, during the past two years, with the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 on school records. It may help student advocates anticipate resistance to the law's implementation and plan appropriate action to assure that its benefits become a reality. (Author/GC)

An elementary school teacher from Worcester, Massachusetts, was reprimanded and received a two-day suspension and a series of involuntary transfers after being reluctant to turn a case study (done for a college class) of a disturbed student in to her principal. Rights of privacy of public employees are discussed and Supreme Court decision in…

Discusses two recent court cases highlighting the legal pitfalls facing mandatory drug testing programs for teachers and students. In both cases, the courts contended that blanket testing policies violated Fourth Amendment protection from unreasonable search and seizure. Testing of individual teachers and students (under reasonable suspicion) may…

Cites the importance of having a state law, knowing what it says, and having a library policy statement regarding the confidentiality of patron records. Discussion covers writing and implementing a policy, the role of automation, existing laws, library records defined, exceptions to confidentiality, and legal liability. Thirty-seven references are…

Elementary school children were interviewed about their perceptions of school in two domains. The action domain tapped perceptions of their actual and ideal prerogatives with respect to privacy, territoriality, and decision making. The value domain addressed children's evaluations of the school as a safe, just, responsive, important, and liked…

This Digest introduces ethical considerations related to acquiring and analyzing online data and provides resources to support sound practice. Because online conversation is relatively new and unfamiliar, and takes place at a distance, participants may not realize or may not remember that their conversations could be made public. A researcher…

This collection of eight seminar outlines focuses on current privacy-rights issues in the arena of education. Seminar outlines include: (1) "The Transparency of Public School Employees' Professional and Personal Lives in the 21st Century: A Canadian Perspective," by Sam Carmen and Val Riewe; (2) "Common Law Privacy in Educational Settings," by…

California state statutes and a series of court cases have required campus security and police departments to release information about incidents occurring on campus to the media and the general public. Despite the law and case decisions, recent studies reveal campus police and security officials are still reluctant to release information to the…

Although colleges and universities generally regard the First Amendment as sacred, they often find themselves at the center of controversies concerning the right to say, print, write, or research with freedom. The complex relationships between a college or university and its student media have often contributed to conflicts over First Amendment…