Most students don”t give a second thought to the approximately 200 security cameras on campus.
They can be found in various buildings on campus, including the residence halls, the VandalStore and the Idaho Commons.
And according to University of Idaho General Counsel, the recordings from those video cameras are all public record, available to anyone willing to make a public records request.
Following the release of video from a shoplifting incident at the VandalStore, UI announced video recorded by security cameras on campus are not protected under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act.
The act, signed into law in 1974, protects the privacy of educational records by setting rules on disclosure.
Kira Hunter| Argonaut
University of Idaho students walk below a security camera in the Idaho Commons. Security cameras are not FERPA protected.
Matt Dorschel, executive director of Public Safety and Security, said UI has security cameras throughout the residence halls and has about 200 cameras on campus in total. He said UI also has cameras in various stages of operation in the Bruce Pitman Center, the Idaho Commons and the Student Recreation Center.
ASUI President Max Cowan said it makes sense that recordings from security cameras in a public place would not fall under FERPA since it is not an educational record. He said security cameras in public area on campus can allow the university to quickly respond to a situation, such as in the VandalStore incident.
Yet, when it comes to cameras in residence halls, Cowan said a dorm is a place where students have a reasonable expectation of privacy.
“As a student, I feel strongly that video surveillance from hallways and public common areas in the residence halls should not be treated in the same way,” Cowan said when it comes to FERPA protections.
He said videos recording in dorms should be treated differently when it comes to FERPA.
Although security cameras are in dorms, Cowan said students should know the recordings will only be made available after a specific records request.
According to UI general counsel, the security cameras on campus are “considered to be created and maintained for a law enforcement purpose,” and are therefore are not considered educational records and not protected by FERPA, according to the statement from UI General Counsel.
“We recognize that there is a need to maintain privacy expectations where people have a reasonable right to assume that they are in a private place,” Dorschel said.
Over a year ago, the university developed a new security camera policy with the goal of centralizing the management of cameras on campus, Dorschel said.
He said the policy is listed in the Administrative Procedures Manuel and was signed by UI President Chuck Staben last year.
The security camera policy does not include cameras used for non-security purposes, such webcams or cameras used for research purposes.
Dorschel said the university also has individual security cameras at research facilities and at university locations outside of Moscow.
This summer, UI partially funded a program that is set to add more security cameras on campus as well as add a permanent operations center to monitor the cameras. Dorschel said UI distributed $194,000 to fund the program,
“We are at the very early stages of that, but we”re excited to have some resources to expand our security camera system,” Dorschel said.
He said his department has just started working with a third party vendor. and they are still in the assessment phase of the project. Since work has just begun, he said they are unsure of how many additional cameras will be installed and where they will be located.
Ryan Tarinelli can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @ryantarinelli