[Muanet] Sydney Morning Herald: UTS gave police access to staff and student records

[Christopher Latham]

I thought members might find this of interest.

Chris

 

Uni lets police see personal records 

Edmund Tadros
July 11, 2007 

Sydney Morning Herald

 

THE University of Technology, Sydney, has given police access to student and staff information during the past two years without the knowledge or consent of those involved. 

On 22 occasions since 2005 it has given information to the Australian Federal Police, the NSW Police Force and the Australian Tax Office. 

The intelligence requested has included confidential personal details, course details, class attendance records, computer usage details and photo identification. 

The requests are legal under exemptions in the Privacy and Personal Information Protection Act 1998 but go against its spirit, a civil liberties group has said. They said law enforcement authorities should be forced to supply a subpoena or warrant before information is provided. 

The university has denied any wrongdoing but could not confirm if subpoenas or warrants were used in every request. 

The student association at UTS said it was part of a wider trend of police targeting student activists before the Asia Pacific Economic Co-operation summit in Sydney in September. 

The information, including a table of the 22 requests and an explanation of the reason, was released to the Herald under freedom of information laws. In the majority of cases the reason cited was "criminal investigation".

The revelation has fuelled the fear of student associations which claim that police are targeting activists and obtaining information about them with the help of universities. The Australian Federal Police and the NSW Police Force were unable to provide additional information about the nature of the requests their officers made. 

The details have come to light after the Herald revealed last month that the NSW Police Force approached a student activist to spy for them in the lead-up to APEC. There have also been reports of increased police presence on campuses and allegations that ASIO is spying on student activists. 

A UTS spokesman said the university acted within the law to provide the information. 

"Whether it was by subpoena, warrant or other form of request for information, in all cases UTS was confident that the requests accorded with exemptions provided by the Act," he said. 

The release of the information without subpoenas or warrants was legal but inappropriate, said the vice-president of the NSW Council of Civil Liberties, David Bernie. "We don't think they should be giving out that information," he said. 

Mr Bernie said if a warrant was obtained then the person involved was not told as a matter of procedure. 

The President of UTS Students' Association, Darren Loasby, is also concerned. "I think it's unsurprising that they are seeking this information and it's unsurprising that UTS is giving it to them," Mr Loasby said. "It's part of a broader trend of police targeting activists and students. It's a crackdown on dissent from this Government - speaking out against the Government has become increasingly unpopular and is not tolerated." 

He said that UTS had a duty to inform students if their information was given out. 

A NSW Police spokesman said without specific details it was difficult to comment. 

But he said "it would not be unusual for police to contact a school or university to seek their assistance with their inquiries". 

http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/uni-lets-police-see-personal-records/2007/07/10/1183833517604.html <http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/uni-lets-police-see-personal-records/2007/07/10/1183833517604.html> 

 

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://lists.murdoch.edu.au/pipermail/muanet/attachments/20070711/45ede150/attachment.html