Stanford Privacy Survey

The Online Privacy at Stanford University project seeks to inform students of: (a) their privacy rights; (b) the extent to which others can access their personal information; and, (c) means by which they can protect their personal information. Your responses to this 5-minute, 15-question survey help us better accomplish these goals. Thank you very much for your time! Please click here to read our mission statement. (Note: all information that you submit will only be used in the aggregate.)

 

 

 

 

Personal information and opinion:

 

 

1. Are you male or female?

 

 

 

2. Are you a

 

Freshman,

 

 

Sophomore,

 

 

Junior,

 

 

Senior,

 

 

Or, graduate student?

 

 

 

 

3. How comfortable are you with computers?

 

 

I do not use a computer

 

 

I only use a computer for simple things, like email, instant messaging, and writing papers

 

 

I use a computer a lot; there are several different programs (more than just email and text editing) that I use regularly

 

 

I use a computer a lot; in addition, I know how to program in one or more languages

 

 

 

 

4. On a scale from 1 (not at all important) to 7 (very important), how important is online privacy - e.g., Internet, Telnet, and instant messaging - to you?

 

 

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 I don't know

 

 

 

 

5. On a scale from 1 (not very well) to 7 (extremely well), how well do you think Stanford University protects your privacy?

 

 

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 I don't know

 

 

 

 

6. On a scale from 1 (not very well) to 7 (extremely well), how well do you think Stanford University informs you about its efforts to protect your privacy?

 

 

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 I don't know

 

 

 

 

7. Please indicate (by checking the corresponding box) under what conditions, if any, you believe a University can justifiably look at a student's private information:

 

 

To prevent or flush out a virus

 

 

To track down and prosecute unauthorized computer users

 

 

To manage and distribute bandwidth (e.g., direct Internet traffic)

 

 

To monitor web activity and content

 

 

To investigate a potential honor code violation

 

 

To aid law enforcement officials outfitted with a search warrant

 

 

 

 

Stanford University, US legislation, and the ideal privacy policy:

 

 

 

 

8. Please indicate whether you are very familiar, somewhat familiar, or not at all familiar with the following University policies and or pieces of United States legislation:

 

 

8a. Stanford University's Computer and Network Usage Policy

 

 

8b. Stanford University's Principles of Privacy in the University

 

 

8c. Family and Education Rights Privacy Act (FERPA)

 

 

8d. Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA)

 

 

 

 

9. Please indicate (by checking the corresponding box) who, if anyone, should have access to the following kinds of information about you:

 

 

 

Other students

Faculty members

Network security officials

9a. Email address

9b. Campus address

9c. Home address

9d. Phone number

9e. Student ID number

9f. Class grades

9g. Email message content

9h. Websurfing habits

 

 

 

 

10. Please indicate whether you strongly agree, agree, are undecided, disagree, or strongly disagree with the following statements:

 

 

10a. A University should only obtain personal information with the student's informed consent

 

 

10b. A University should only collect information about students to serve clearly defined purposes

 

 

10c. A University should not collect information about students' political and social beliefs

 

 

10d. A University should never disseminate students' personal information to outside agencies

 

 

10e. A University should tell students what kinds of information are maintained about them

 

 

10f. A University should assign appropriate life spans to students' personal information

 

 

10g. A University should continually review, and be responsible for, matters of student privacy

 

 

 

 

Computer usage, and the future:

 

 

 

 

11. Have you ever used the online STANFORD.WHO student, faculty, and staff directory?

 

 

Yes

 

 

No

 

 

What is the STANFORD.WHO directory?

 

 

 

 

12. Have you ever used the "zlocate" command while online?

 

 

Yes

 

 

No

 

 

What is the zlocate command?

 

 

 

 

13. Have you ever used an anonymizer while surfing the web?

 

 

Yes

 

 

No

 

 

What is an anonymizer?

 

 

 

 

14. Have you ever used encryption when sending email messages?

 

 

Yes

 

 

No

 

 

What is encryption?

 

 

 

 

15. "In order to protect my online privacy, I would be willing to..." (please check all that apply):

 

 

Install additional software on a personal computer

 

 

Change all of my passwords every 30 days

 

 

Hide (or, encrypt) all sensitive files on a personal computer

 

 

Forfeit access to online student directories

 

 

Avoid certain web sites

 

 

Use a different program to send email

 

 

Use a different program to surf the web

 

 

Spend my own money

 

 

 

 

If you have any comments on your answers to the questions above, or if there are other privacy concerns you would like to share with us, we invite your comments below. (For example, what do you think Stanford University should do if someone invades your privacy, and why?)

 

 

 

 

 

 
Questions? Comments? Suggestions? Send mail to: privacy_project@CS.Stanford.EDUlord-ganesha.jpg (11032 bytes)