Time to change the privacy policy

Did you ever think how much information the Johns Hopkins University has about you? They know your name, your social security number, your phone, your e-mail, who your parents are, your religion, your ethnicity and the groups in which you participate. One would, of course, assume that they simply use this information for registration and sending your parents the tuition check. However, all of your information may not remain in the relative security of JHU registration and accounting. Instead, it could go to the FBI, the CIA, the INS and the Office of Homeland Security and you would never know about it. Why is this fact being kept secret?

Students have the right to keep their school from disclosing information about them, with a few exceptions. These exceptions include directory information -- by request with a subpoena -- and information which is directly relevant to preserving the welfare of the student body. Aside from these exceptions, the University may disclose "directory type" information (name, age, address, e-mail, parents name, major and much more) about their students to almost any organization. The University is supposed to inform students that they do this and notify them when and if information is given out. When was the student body briefed about this?

So what kind of "non-directory information" can the University legally release? After the terrorist attacks, Congress passed the USA Patriot Act. This states that data collected for statistical research can be turned over to government agencies, such as the FBI or the CIA. In the past, this information was kept strictly confidential. This information includes your race, your ethnicity, your religion and any organizations to which you may belong. Now, not only can this information be turned over, it can be turned over without a student's knowledge or consent. And what does the government need to get this information? Merely a certificate saying that the records are "relevant to an investigation" -- nothing else.

But why would the government want this information? If you have never had any connection to a terrorist organization, why would information about you possibly be relevant? In recent months, students affiliated with Muslim Student Associations, Islamic students and others have been subject to unwarranted investigation by the government authorities for no other reason than their affiliation with certain student groups or because of their religion. We must not let this happen at Johns Hopkins.

Do not simply accept that the government has the right to know whatever it wants about you. We must question the administration about what information has been given out about you. Find out how to suppress your information.

Your directory information can be suppressed by your request by submitting an Excusion of Directory Information Form to the Office of the Registrar. Or go to http://www.jhu.edu/aclu for more information about how to suppress your information electronically. Remember, this does not suppress all your information. However, it is at least a first step to ensure that members of the student body are not subject to discrimination.