Issues & Experts >
Issues & Experts Archive > Facebook, campus violence, eco-terrorism
Facebook, campus violence, eco-terrorism
Document Tools
July 16, 2009
Facebook forced to face privacy music
The Privacy Commissioner of Canada is giving Facebook 30 days to comply with recommendations intended to make the social networking site a better caregiver of personal information or face court action. Several SFU experts can offer thought on this legal crackdown in the age of social networking:
Richard Smith, communication professor: “Social networkers are only beginning to realize that it’s not as easy to get your private face off Facebook as it is to get it on there. The Privacy Commissioner of Canada’s recommendation could help remedy this, but it remains to be seen whether keeping 12 million Canadian users, only 5 per cent of its customers, happy is enough to motivate Facebook to make changes.”
Richard Smith, 778.782.5116, smith@sfu.ca
John Peloza, business administration assistant professor: “Advertisers have been attracted to the fact Facebook gives them access to information about consumer habits that the consumers would normally never publicly divulge. As more people become aware of how breach of privacy in Facebook communication parallels what happens in direct marketing, we can expect to see more privacy laws governing social media.”
John Peloza, 778.782.7338, 604.816.9171 (July 17), peloza@sfu.ca
Craig Neelands/Ian Forsyth, SFU information and privacy coordinators: “The national privacy commissioner has no jurisdiction over SFU because we are under provincial law, which is the BC Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act. That being said, as a result of issues that arose at the university in 2007, SFU has had a key messages-guidelines document governing Facebook use here since April 2008. We realized at the time there were privacy protection issues with Facebook.”
Craig Neelands, 778.782.5465, neelands@sfu.ca, (available as of July 20)
Ian Forsyth, 778.782.3262, iforsyth@sfu.ca, (available as of July 20)
Monitoring university violence
A new multi-university study of violence experienced by male and female students indicates that nearly one in five of them experienced emotional or physical violence in the past six months. Many of the incidents are the result of intimate partner violence. Commenting on the report’s findings, Laura MacDonald, the personal security manager at SFU campus security, notes: “It is quite likely that similar incidents of violence occur within SFU’s student community. However, it’s difficult to get a true picture of the rate of occurrence because violence and sexual assault are universally underreported.” MacDonald, the coordinator of the Kids Safety Day at SFU Burnaby on Sunday, July 19, can elaborate on SFU’s comprehensive and coordinated response plan to actual and potentially violent incidents on campus.
Laura MacDonald, 778.782.5450, laura_macdonald@sfu.ca
Eco-terrorism afoot?
Media are asking themselves whether bomb-threat letters to a northern BC newspaper signify the existence of a Squamish Five-type group or indicate that eco-terrorism is on the rise? SFU criminologist Neil Boyd can shed some light on theories that a second bomb-threat letter to the Dawson Creek Daily News is from someone connected to a series of bombings targeting EnCana’s natural gas operations.
Neil Boyd, 604.947.9569, 778.782.3324, nboyd@sfu.ca
The Privacy Commissioner of Canada is giving Facebook 30 days to comply with recommendations intended to make the social networking site a better caregiver of personal information or face court action. Several SFU experts can offer thought on this legal crackdown in the age of social networking:
Richard Smith, communication professor: “Social networkers are only beginning to realize that it’s not as easy to get your private face off Facebook as it is to get it on there. The Privacy Commissioner of Canada’s recommendation could help remedy this, but it remains to be seen whether keeping 12 million Canadian users, only 5 per cent of its customers, happy is enough to motivate Facebook to make changes.”
Richard Smith, 778.782.5116, smith@sfu.ca
John Peloza, business administration assistant professor: “Advertisers have been attracted to the fact Facebook gives them access to information about consumer habits that the consumers would normally never publicly divulge. As more people become aware of how breach of privacy in Facebook communication parallels what happens in direct marketing, we can expect to see more privacy laws governing social media.”
John Peloza, 778.782.7338, 604.816.9171 (July 17), peloza@sfu.ca
Craig Neelands/Ian Forsyth, SFU information and privacy coordinators: “The national privacy commissioner has no jurisdiction over SFU because we are under provincial law, which is the BC Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act. That being said, as a result of issues that arose at the university in 2007, SFU has had a key messages-guidelines document governing Facebook use here since April 2008. We realized at the time there were privacy protection issues with Facebook.”
Craig Neelands, 778.782.5465, neelands@sfu.ca, (available as of July 20)
Ian Forsyth, 778.782.3262, iforsyth@sfu.ca, (available as of July 20)
Monitoring university violence
A new multi-university study of violence experienced by male and female students indicates that nearly one in five of them experienced emotional or physical violence in the past six months. Many of the incidents are the result of intimate partner violence. Commenting on the report’s findings, Laura MacDonald, the personal security manager at SFU campus security, notes: “It is quite likely that similar incidents of violence occur within SFU’s student community. However, it’s difficult to get a true picture of the rate of occurrence because violence and sexual assault are universally underreported.” MacDonald, the coordinator of the Kids Safety Day at SFU Burnaby on Sunday, July 19, can elaborate on SFU’s comprehensive and coordinated response plan to actual and potentially violent incidents on campus.
Laura MacDonald, 778.782.5450, laura_macdonald@sfu.ca
Eco-terrorism afoot?
Media are asking themselves whether bomb-threat letters to a northern BC newspaper signify the existence of a Squamish Five-type group or indicate that eco-terrorism is on the rise? SFU criminologist Neil Boyd can shed some light on theories that a second bomb-threat letter to the Dawson Creek Daily News is from someone connected to a series of bombings targeting EnCana’s natural gas operations.
Neil Boyd, 604.947.9569, 778.782.3324, nboyd@sfu.ca