The University of Idaho Information Technology Services department rolled out changes to the student directory Jan. 8 in order to better protect student privacy.
Dean of Students Bruce Pitman said he decided it was time to examine what other universities do to protect student privacy after being contacted by several students who were uncomfortable with their phone numbers and addresses being on the student directory.
“We determined that other institutions require authentication information to access their student directories, and that they did not include phone numbers and addresses,” Pitman said. “So that’s what we decided to pursue.”
Pitman said once they decided what course to pursue they took their proposal to both ASUI and the Graduate and Professional Student Association. Both organizations said they support increasing protections for student privacy.
He said because students rarely take the time to update their information, the contact information listed is often for their parents, something some students are particularly uncomfortable about. He said there is currently an opt-out option for students who do not wish to be included in the directory.
Pitman mentioned the last time the student directory was actually printed, in 2009-2010, the only information included was name, email and major.
“I don’t know why the other information was added in,” Pitman said.
Management Information Services Manager Brian Borchers said they got to work after being contacted by the Dean of Students Office about the changes. He said they wanted to initiate changes Jan. 4, but they ended up taking effect Jan. 8.
Borchers said it was a simple process involving three steps: enabling authentication protection, encrypting the login data and masking the phone numbers and addresses. After that he said they had to test how the changes worked on different web browsers.
University sophomore Liam Donohoe said he supports the changes to increase privacy, but he thinks they will be a minor inconvenience.
“For group projects I like the directory having phone numbers because I frequently lose numbers when I write them down,” Donohoe said. “But I do understand why people are uncomfortable having that information out there.”
Pitman said he hoped the changes won’t inconvenience too many people.
Both Pitman and Borchers said the changes have been well received so far.
Andrew Deskins can be reached at [email protected]