daily californian logo

BERKELEY'S NEWS • MAY 26, 2023

Apply to The Daily Californian!

UC Berkeley 1st college in US to publish electronic communications transparency report

article image

SUPPORT OUR NONPROFIT NEWSROOM

We're an independent student-run newspaper, and need your support to maintain our coverage.

SEPTEMBER 21, 2015

Earlier this year, UC Berkeley became the first college in the United States to publish a transparency report detailing nonconsensual requests for electronic communications.

The report, which is available on the Office of the Chancellor’s ethics website, provides statistics on the number of requests for nonconsensual access to the private electronic communication of students, faculty and staff from January 2014 to June 2015.

Additionally, the report provides the number of granted requests and how each approved request was justified, based on the UC Electronic Communications Policy.

William Allison, the director of architecture platforms and integration for the campus’s Information Services and Technology, worked with the Office of Ethics, Risk and Compliance Services — which already tracks nonconsensual disclosures — to publicize the reports. According to Allison, the decision to publish the reports followed similar actions taken by Internet companies to rebuild public trust in the handling of private information after the Edward Snowden revelations.

“It’s instrumentally important that universities be a part of a conversation,” said Deirdre Mulligan, assistant professor of law at the UC Berkeley School of Information. “It’s very useful for the university to be transparent.”

Contact Maxwell Jenkins-Goetz at [email protected].
LAST UPDATED

SEPTEMBER 22, 2015


Related Articles

featured article
Since the start of the semester, a record number of students have asked for their admissions files from the UC Berkeley campus -- a spike that followed an online post about a group of Stanford students outlining a process to request admissions documents.
Since the start of the semester, a record number of students have asked for their admissions files from the UC Berkeley campus -- a spike that followed an online post about a group of Stanford students outlining a process to request admissions documents.
featured article
featured article
At a three-day meeting next week, the UC Board of Regents will vote on a plan to increase tuition, amend the financial aid policy for undocumented students and address other issues.
At a three-day meeting next week, the UC Board of Regents will vote on a plan to increase tuition, amend the financial aid policy for undocumented students and address other issues.
featured article