Privacy
of student information requires careful consideration at times. As a TA you have access to student information that if shared may disclose their identity, location, or other details they would prefer to keep to themselves. It is your responsibility to respect their privacy.
British Columbia's Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act
(or FIPPA), is how the university and other public organizations manage private information. It has two main purposes:
- Freedom of information: Students should have the right to access the records the university keeps of them.
- Protection of privacy: Students should not have their personal information shared, used or collected without their permission.
As a TA with access to personal student data, you share responsibility for keeping it private.
Keeping information private
can require consideration. It is rare that someone is actively seeking out information from an individual student in your course, so it is more likely that we will slip-up and share information by accident.
There are some frequent ways in which privacy slip-ups occur as TAs or instructors in a course:
- Store information in Canada: Using outside services such as Google Docs or Slack is more common nowadays. The challenge with such services is you cannot confirm that they will store the data only in Canada. FIPPA requires that data be stored in Canada, so using SFU's built-in services as much as possible is recommended.
- Keep things secured: Make sure any devices you use to access work related material — such as emails, grades, Canvas, etc. — have a good secure password, and are not openly accessible by others (i.e. members of your household or otherwise).
- Do not share personal details between students: If one student asks about another's grade, or comments on another's students grade, you are not permitted to discuss it with them. State this to the student.
- Do not ask students for their computer login information: You should never need to access university services on behalf of a student.
If information is shared
it is important to notify your instructor as soon as possible. The university has a formal process for dealing with privacy breaches which your instructor will likely manage if warranted.
What about my privacy?
Your privacy as a TA also matters, and the next section on Keeping it Professional provides some suggestions on how to maintain your personal privacy.