Dramatic violation of personal privacy at University of Ottawa raises concerns of student and faculty unions

UPDATE, 11:25, November 4: The University has publicly stated its support for the faculty member whose privacy was violated. It has so far found no misuse of campus email accounts and it states clearly its confidence in the qualifications and teaching abilities of the professor whose reputation was attacked. I applaud their public statement of support.

On Sunday, November 2, the Ottawa Citizen reported that a faculty member at the University of Ottawa was being targeted by an email campaign clearly intended to question her position on the faculty. The basis for the attack?

The claim that she was as a sex worker.

An anonymous source began circulating an email to the University community and the media last week that included photographs, personal information and transcripts from research interviews.

The violation of the faculty member's privacy is astonishing. To have circulated information with the intent to discredit her is awful enough. To have included hotel room confirmations with home address, linked to her professional name is unconscionable. To have revealed confidential research data - and how was that acquired? - is unethical and appalling. Read more below the fold

So far, important constituencies on campus are supporting the targeted faculty member and calling on the University to investigate the attack. According to the Ottowa Citizen the organizations representing undergraduates and graduate students (the Student Federation of the University of Ottawa and the Graduate Students' Association, respectively) have jointly released a lette to the campus community "denouncing the personal attacks and abuse of confidential information in the e-mail." They call the targeted professor a "valued member of the university community" and call for the breach of ethics represented by the release of research data to be investigated by the administration. James Turk, sociologist and Executive Director of the Canadian Association of University Teachers goes further, saying that the administration has an "obligation to track down the originator of the email" and makes reference to the university's computer use policy. The student newspaper's editor-in-chief, says "If someone is concerned about a background, they have every right to express these concerns. But this is not the way to do it."

Clearly this story is going to be unfolding for a while, but here are some initial reactions:

1. I love that the headline of the Ottowa Citizen article is "E-mail attack on professor sparks U of O privacy debate" and never mentions prostitution, sex work or attempts to titillate or shame.

2. I am thrilled that the student unions and the CAUT are clearly backing up the faculty member and expressing alarm at the intrusion into her privacy, and raising concerns about ethical treatment of research data, and about academic freedom.

3. I am concerned that the University is reported to be is ambivalent about taking any effort to track down the person behind the attack. If the attack is in reaction to some underlying conflict then that conflict must be addressed. (NOTE: As of the update at 11:25 on November 4, I believe the University is in fact investigating the source of the attack.)

We'll be following this story closely here, so watch for more information.