Oxford Using Facebook To Snoop On Students

University Officials Fine Students Up To $200 For Disorderly Conduct Based On Pictures

(AP)  For students at the University of Oxford, Facebook is a great way to keep posted on gossip and parties. For campus officials, it's a new way to find — and fine — troublemakers.

After exams, students at the venerable English university traditionally drop their serious ways and indulge in a spasm of "trashings" — rowdy revels that include dousing classmates in foam, eggs and flour.

In recent years, students have taken to posting photos of the mess on Facebook, the popular online social networking site.

Disciplinary officials at Oxford have caught on — and have begun e-mailing students fines of $80 to $200 for breaking campus rules, said Martin McCluskey, president of the Oxford University Students Union.

McCluskey sent an e-mail to all members of the student union warning them that they are being spied upon by school officials trolling through Facebook profiles containing photos of "trashings."

"It's fairly disgraceful and underhand," he said Tuesday. "Disciplinary procedures are supposed to be transparent."

A university spokesman confirmed the practice, saying officials began searching Facebook after receiving complaints of unruly student behavior. The 800-year-old university has been issuing fines for misdemeanors such as spraying fluids and hurling eggs hurling since 2004.

"The University Proctors have told the students that they are welcome to meet their friends after their exams but that students who create a mess in the street with food or alcohol, or who indulge in anti-social behavior contrary to University regulations, will be disciplined," the spokesman said on condition of anonymity, in line with university policy.

The student union advised students with Facebook accounts to change their privacy settings to prevent staff and faculty from viewing their profiles and photographs.

Facebook has an estimated 30 million users around the world — and has seen a surge in popularity coincide with an increase in the number of users busted by Facebook photos and comments.

Last week, Miss New Jersey Amy Polumbo was made to sweat over whether she would be stripped of her crown. Organizers had been sent photos from Polumbo's Facebook page showing her acting "not in a ladylike manner" — including one in which her boyfriend appears to be biting her breast through her shirt.

In April, five students at a Toronto school were banned from an end-of-the-year trip after disparaging remarks about a teacher were found on Facebook.

Alex Hill, 21, a philosophy and mathematics student at Oxford, said she was among students to receive a disciplinary e-mail. Hill said the e-mail stated that three of her photos provided evidence she had engaged in "disorderly" conduct.

"They gave me links to three photos on Facebook where I've got shaving foam all over me as examples of my disorderly conduct," she said. "I think it's an appalling thing to do."

[darkfyreaol]

I understand having a party and all..But trashing school property, school officials, and the like..And making it public for the world to see..

You can't tell who's looking at your stuff at any given time. That's why it's called the World Wide Web. You may as well have stuck a post-it note on the Dean's door with all the dirty details.

The students who got disciplined had it coming. Face it, it wouldn't have happened if they had minded the rules.

[undermyboot]

This is what Britain has come to- using surveillance to control every tiny aspect of human behavior. With their CCTV cameras everywhere, their car tracking systems that track your movement everywhere at all times, with their facial recognition and cameras everywhere they track where you go and what you do, with their speakers on every corner to tell people when they catch them yelling or even jaywalking, Britain is truly George Orwell's nightmare. How could the Oxford fascists NOT do this? It's completely consistent with their surveillance society. Fortunately for those who want to create a controlled society in Britain (and soon in the USA), they are indoctrinating their kids to the idea that BIG BROTHER is watching, and that it is OK.

Anyone who thinks this is a good idea should bend over and pull down your pants. The an*l probe will be permanenty inserted ...for your protection, moron. LMFAO

[tucano2]

Anyone stupid enough to be on such a web program does NOT belong in any institution of so-called higher learning.

[clevercandi]

"I know that Oxford's in England, but my reference to the Constitution applied to Facebook and to American universities and colleges which may also be "spying" on students via Internet postings."
Posted by honest_news at 01:55 AM : Jul 18, 2007

I work at an American university and this type of thing goes on all the time.

Guess what? Facebook, MySpace, etc. is PUBLIC info unless you make it private. Students have not only been disciplined, but expelled for being STUPID enough to put EVIDENCE out on the internet. They actually tell about taking drugs and cheating on exams! And, I'm sorry oleander8, but that makes them all MORONS!

P. S. Your creditors can find you the same way.

[shanev137]

As an employer, the first thing I do with all job applicants is to look them up on Facebook and Myspace to see if they are the kind of person I want to hire. Why would they be really be any different in person than they are online?

[xavia1-2009]

I don't get it.

This picture shows disorderly conduct?

What?

Glad I don't live in England.

[finewoven]

Hey morons...don't post ethically questionable photos for everyone to see...it makes you look cheap and stupid and apparently will also get you in trouble...it's called making a choice, making good choices is always smart...
Posted by cantshutup at 09:40 PM : Jul 17, 2007

Words of wisdom from cantshutup, for the socially repressed and those oppressed by their moral straitjackets. Come on- shaving cream and eggs is innocuous compared to what some other people do to relieve stress. Let me guess, this is the slippery slope where your choices send you to hell, or at least charge you $80 to $200 for redemption.

[oleander8]

"Hey morons...don't post ethically questionable photos for everyone to see..."[Posted by cantshutup]

That's censorship. Also - to 'cantshutup' - what is it about name calling? Do you feel "cool"? Do you think it gives you more credibility?

[shanev137]

Exactly. What's the difference between acting like a fool on a street corner where everyone can see you, and acting like a fool online where everyone can see you. lol...uh, Yea.

As for Oxfart....welcome to Big Brother.

When in Rome (if you have the stomach for it).

[rach216-2009]

From the perspective of a 24-yr-old woman who uses Facebook and Myspace every day... You can set your Facebook and Myspace pages so NO ONE can see them but people who YOU CHOOSE as your friends. It seems to me that no one realizes this. You can make it so that NO ONE can look at your personal webpage except the people you choose. So what is the problem here? If these student's Facebook pages are posted publicly, for everyone to see, then it's THEIR fault that their professors can see their humiliating pictures. They can easily remedy this problem? So why don't they?

[brianbwb-2009]

Oxford jams the girl for this photo? What if someone else sprayed her, and she was photographed laughing at the prank, how then is she wrong? What about it is illegal? What did Oxford do to ascertain the true context, before summarily passing judgment?

Boycott Oxford, and all other institution that convicts without fair hearing, in order to dictate behavior. They nay be a "respected" institution, but it is based on the past. Presently, they dishonor that respect by committing such a "Bushian" (for lack of a better word)invasion of the girl's private lifestyle.

[honest_news]

Per my previous posting:

I know that Oxford's in England, but my reference to the Constitution applied to Facebook and to American universities and colleges which may also be "spying" on students via Internet postings.

Just a clarification...

[honest_news]

A lot of issues here...

If the posted material was implicitly understood to be confidential, and either Facebook violated that trust or Oxford circumvented privacy laws to obtain information on its students (and others), then there are liability issues and possibly criminal misconduct. The Constitution safeguards individual privacy, so both Facebook and the university are treading on thin ice.

However, if it was clear that the posted material was neither private nor confidential, then it will serve as a valuable wakeup call to students and other young people as to the very public nature of the Internet.

Either way, there are trust issues involved. Students and their parents need to take a more critical stance toward the colleges and universities with whom they contract to provide educational services. After all, they are the clients and the university is the vendor. I can't think of any other client/vendor relationship where such snooping would be tolerated. Somehow the entire business model got twisted completely around, so that those who pay (and pay and pay and pay) are at the mercy of the service providers.

Very strange indeed...

[rray52]

Common sense 101 must not be required at Oxford.

[cantshutup]

save the deviant stuff for private get togethers...derrrr

[cantshutup]

Hey morons...don't post ethically questionable photos for everyone to see...it makes you look cheap and stupid and apparently will also get you in trouble...it's called making a choice, making good choices is always smart...

[shanev137]

Facebook. Perfect name. Shows how people put on different faces for different places. They try to act one way in the real world, but act a different way online. Perfect for schizophrenics.