Dramatic violation of personal privacy at University of Ottawa raises concerns of student and faculty unions
UPDATE, 11:25, November 4: The University has publicly stated its support for the faculty member whose privacy was violated. It has so far found no misuse of campus email accounts and it states clearly its confidence in the qualifications and teaching abilities of the professor whose reputation was attacked. I applaud their public statement of support.
On Sunday, November 2, the Ottawa Citizen reported that a faculty member at the University of Ottawa was being targeted by an email campaign clearly intended to question her position on the faculty. The basis for the attack?
The claim that she was as a sex worker.
An anonymous source began circulating an email to the University community and the media last week that included photographs, personal information and transcripts from research interviews.
The violation of the faculty member's privacy is astonishing. To have circulated information with the intent to discredit her is awful enough. To have included hotel room confirmations with home address, linked to her professional name is unconscionable. To have revealed confidential research data - and how was that acquired? - is unethical and appalling. Read more below the fold
So far, important constituencies on campus are supporting the targeted faculty member and calling on the University to investigate the attack. According to the Ottowa Citizen the organizations representing undergraduates and graduate students (the Student Federation of the University of Ottawa and the Graduate Students' Association, respectively) have jointly released a lette to the campus community "denouncing the personal attacks and abuse of confidential information in the e-mail." They call the targeted professor a "valued member of the university community" and call for the breach of ethics represented by the release of research data to be investigated by the administration. James Turk, sociologist and Executive Director of the Canadian Association of University Teachers goes further, saying that the administration has an "obligation to track down the originator of the email" and makes reference to the university's computer use policy. The student newspaper's editor-in-chief, says "If someone is concerned about a background, they have every right to express these concerns. But this is not the way to do it."
Clearly this story is going to be unfolding for a while, but here are some initial reactions:
1. I love that the headline of the Ottowa Citizen article is "E-mail attack on professor sparks U of O privacy debate" and never mentions prostitution, sex work or attempts to titillate or shame.
2. I am thrilled that the student unions and the CAUT are clearly backing up the faculty member and expressing alarm at the intrusion into her privacy, and raising concerns about ethical treatment of research data, and about academic freedom.
3. I am concerned that the University is reported to be is ambivalent about taking any effort to track down the person behind the attack. If the attack is in reaction to some underlying conflict then that conflict must be addressed. (NOTE: As of the update at 11:25 on November 4, I believe the University is in fact investigating the source of the attack.)
We'll be following this story closely here, so watch for more information.
Guarding research integrity and academic freedom
This is the third attempt to ‘out’ an academic this year, following allegations made at the University of New Mexico and the University of Glasgow (Alexander 2008). This incident is perhaps even more troubling, involving the unauthorised release of confidential research data, and attacking the very premise of research on vulnerable communities. Only misguided moral righteousness can explain this very disturbing behaviour unless there is also an ongoing background conflict.
Regardless of whether the accusations are true or not, and we have no first hand information of that, there are some important issues raised by the story that need examining. First, there is the reputation of the department concerned.
The Criminology Department at the University of Ottawa has a well respected research programme in sex work that has created strong links with the sex work community, under the leadership of Professors Colette Parent and Christine Bruckert. Bruckert’s connections with the sex work profession are well known, and she has been transparent about this as well as being a staunch advocate for the rights of sex workers. Attacks on the programme constitute a violation of academic freedom.
The ethics of research on vulnerable populations (Goodyear 2008) is based on collaborative models to mitigate vulnerability, and it is now a well established practice in responsible research to involve current or former members of the communities studied in the research. In general the academic community involved in sex work research has gone a long way to being a model in this regard, performing research that respects and benefits the community studied and advocating for their rights. It has carefully built bridges between communities of knowledge and communities of practice. Now all this is threatened by the action of an individual or individuals who have attacked a professor at the University of Ottawa for her connections with the sex work profession. Furthermore the leak of research data represents a serious breach of research ethics that threatens to undermine the fragile trust of sensitive communities in researchers. It is also alleged that university facilities were used to propagate what is essentially hate mail in violation of policies. Furthermore it is an established tradition amongst academics to often maintain a private practice that provides an experiential grounding. It is not clear why part time faculty who are also professionals should not maintain part time careers.
The Department of Criminology has done much to advance the cause of destigmatising sex work, a source of much harm. Sex workers have contributed valuable scholarly activity into the lives and work of other sex workers over the years and many have entered the academy or taken out higher degrees in related disciplines, while sex work studies have become popular courses to take and fields of scholarly endeavour.
It is heartening to see the responsible reaction of the student bodies and the Canadian Association of University Teachers in defending a faculty member against personal attacks and intrusion into their private life. The University has also defended the professor, and must now show its commitment to academic freedom and research integrity by launching an inquiry that hopefully will be formative in terms of creating a respectful workplace. Those charged with research integrity will also need to demonstrate to the community that it is capable of ensuring a safe environment for ethical responsible research in sensitive areas.
Alexander, D. (2008) Dr Strangelove: government adviser’s bizarre double life as £40 a time male hooker, Sunday Mail, 4th May, 7
Goodyear MD, Eckenwiler LA, Ells C. Fresh thinking about the Declaration of Helsinki. BMJ. 2008 Oct 17;337:a2128. doi: 10.1136/bmj.a2128.
I fully agree
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Ron Weitzer
Sociology Dept, George Washington University
Washington, DC 20052
www.gwu.edu/~soc/faculty/weitzer.cfm
Moral dilemmas in academic freedom
Amongst the many themes that are likely to swirl around this disturbing incident is how one can best deal with the issues and conflicts arising from such actions while being extremely careful to maintain, respect and protect the individual or individuals' rights to privacy and safety. It is highly regrettable and a matter of considerable concern that the individual was named by one source in this instance, and we have expressed that concern in the appropriate quarters.
There is also a moral dilemma in terms of the obligations of colleagues faced with such attacks. One counsel would be to maintain silence to avoid drawing any publicity or attention to the matter, and to protect the individuals concerned, and this has obvious merit. On the other hand there are important principles at stake - and too often the academic community remains silent while others with different motives control the agenda and public discourse. These conflicting values are not easily resolved. In the attack on a faculty member at the University of Toronto and the Hospital for Sick Children, Professor Francoise Baylis asked the question - Where were the heroes of Bioethics?
We trust that the authorities will handle this in a sensitive, respectful and constructive manner.
Discussion of the U of O situation temporarily closed
...because public space really matters!
Elizabeth