Editor’s note: This article was initially published in The Daily Gazette, Swarthmore’s online, daily newspaper founded in Fall 1996. As of Fall 2018, the DG has merged with The Phoenix. See the about page to read more about the DG.
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Dear Editor:
In
yesterday’s
story on the child pornography investigation, there were a
number of factual errors. Police did not search the student’s computer
last Thursday; they made copies of his ITS and SCCS accounts. The
student’s actual computer was seized last month. Thursday’s search of ITS
and SCCS servers was partially justified by records of his accounts on
those machines that were gleaned from his hard drive. (Delco Times, Apr
12)
The statement that “the student allegedly stored the electronic files in
question on the SCCS server,” is grossly misleading. The search warrant
was issued for ALL of the student’s electronic files on ALL campus
servers, not just some special subset considered to be incriminating. At
this point, the SCCS has not been informed of any illegal content housed
on our servers. As a matter of policy, however informal, we do not police
student files; users are fully responsible for their own accounts.
Should the District Attorney find illegal files in the student’s account,
we will be notified so that we can remove them. Until then, though, we
have no reason to believe that any such files exist on SCCS machines.
In talking about Swarthmore’s privacy protection policies, it is important
to note the peculiar absolution that is a search warrant. Once a warrant
is issued, the college is legally compelled to comply, regardless of
internal policy. For the college to challenge a warrant once it had been
served could constitute an obstruction of justice, which simply is not
going to happen.
All in all, Thursday’s search went well. Downtime was minimal, no servers
were seized, and no files of any user other than the student under
investigation were copied.
In a time rife with rumor and scarce of fact, it is imperative that the
community hear truth, and not approximations thereof. Thank you for
helping execute this charge.
–branen salmon
member SCCS
Policy Board, Electronic Privacy Committee
