From: "Vladimir Z. Nuri" <vznuri@netcom.com>
Date: Thu, 5 Nov 1998 06:15:35 +0800
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Subject: IP: ISPI Clips 6.05: U. of T. Students Question Smartcard Technology & Privacy
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From: "ama-gi ISPI" <offshore@email.msn.com>
Subject: IP: ISPI Clips 6.05: U. of T. Students Question Smartcard Technology & Privacy
Date: Tue, 3 Nov 1998 00:19:58 -0800
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ISPI Clips 6.05: U. of T. Students Question Smartcard Technology & Privacy
News & Info from the Institute for the Study of Privacy Issues (ISPI)
Tuesday November 3, 1998
ISPI4Privacy@ama-gi.com
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This From: WIRED News, November 2, 1998
http://www.wired.com

Students Wonder: How Smart?
http://www.wired.com/news/news/politics/story/15978.html

by
Marlene Blanshay, blanshay@total.net

TORONTO -- A coalition of University of Toronto students is leading an open
forum on smartcard technology Monday to discuss concerns that a new campus
card program may be compromising their privacy.

The T-card pilot project began last year when the university distributed
45,000 smartcards to students, staff, and faculty. Like many students
across the US, where such programs are common, the 39,000 Toronto
volunteers were sold on the convenience of having all their ID combined on
a single piece of plastic.

"[Students] don't have to carry around so many cards," said University of
Toronto registrar Karel Swift, the chairwoman of the school's T-card
implementation committee.

Not everybody feels that way. The university says it has been open about
the new program, but some students feel that the school has not been up
front with them about what is being done with information on purchases made
with the card.

"We just want some answers," said James Hooch of the Identity Technology
Working Group, the coalition of students and faculty that will host
Monday's forum.

"We feel we are being used as a captive market."

Andrew Clement, a professor of information studies at the University of
Toronto, said the university has an obligation to be more open about the
project.

"We don't think they are up to some nefarious scheme," said Clement,
moderator of Monday's forum. "But they are implementing the new technology,
which is going to be used in a wider setting, and should be setting a good
example."

Nevertheless, Swift said that students have not been left out of the
process.

"We consulted with student reps when the project was under consideration,"
Swift said. She added that the university has privacy policy and that their
records are protected by a rigorous access to information policy.

Some still worry that the university, in the interest of efficiency, is
introducing a new technology without looking at the potential uses or
misuses.

"There is a lot of concern among the students about collection of
information for purposes they are not aware of," says Jack Dimond, the
university's commissioner for freedom of information and privacy. "My
concern is that as smartcards are used more, there is a procedure of review
of information it collects. When you begin using the new applications, you
have to look at them closely."

One freedom and privacy advocate encourages students to boycott the cards.

"[Students] should just say, 'I refuse to use this card for any cash
purchases until you tell me where this info is going and what you're doing
with it,'" said David Jones, president of Electronic Frontier Canada.

Copyright (c) 1994-98 Wired Digital Inc.


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