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Responses
The Working Group on Information Policy and Privacy Issues, a subgroup of the Task Force on Campus Security, was formed to assess our policies and procedures in this area in anticipation of possible requests for information on members of our community in the aftermath of the attacks of September 11th. The Group consisted of representatives of essentially all segments of the community and included a number of individuals with considerable experience in this area of information and privacy. It was clear that our overall goal was to assist in legitimate law enforcement efforts, while at the same time protecting members of the community from unreasonable and illegal violations of privacy.
Our first task was to assess MIT policies on release of information to determine if any changes appeared needed. We realized that it was not possible to anticipate all the issues which might come up, but we did try to consider our policies in light of the events of September 11th and following. We were pleased to find that MIT's traditional policies appear to be quite robust, and to be a solid basis for handling requests which might come. We sent a message to the entire community on October 17th which summarized policies concerning disclosure of information which appeared to be particularly relevant in these circumstances. This message included Web links to detailed MIT policies in this area. We believe that it is important for all members of our community to have at least a general knowledge of such policies, and some members need to have more detailed knowledge in certain areas.
Following passage of the USA Patriot Act of 2001, the Working Group again reviewed Institute policies in light of that Act. The group, with the assistance of legal counsel, concluded that the Act does not change significantly how MIT will respond to requests for information, although it may make it easier for government offices to receive court authorization for specific requests.
The well-publicized interviews of young males from specific countries, which were conducted nationally by the FBI and other agencies during November and December, presented another challenge for our community. We became aware of at least a few instances in which members of our community were interviewed. We issued, through the International Students Office and the International Scholars Office, some points of guidance for individuals who might find themselves the target of such interviews. The intent here was not to interfere with legitimate law enforcement efforts, but rather to inform members of the community of their basic rights in such circumstances.
Another general task was to look ahead and try to anticipate situations and issues which may be of special concern. Perhaps the most worrisome of these is the potential effect of reactions to September 11th on international students and scholars. In the case of international graduate students, who make up 40 percent of all graduate students at MIT, there are real concerns about the number of new students who will come to the Institute in the next year. We do not yet know what the effect of recent developments will be on the number of students who will apply for admission and on the number who will be able to obtain visas following acceptance. Our main concern is over the potential loss of the opportunity to maintain a top-quality international research and learning community with all the implications for future progress and understanding that this implies. This is a situation to which all of us will have to pay close attention in the coming months.
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