MIT, responding to Aaron Swartz report, proposes ways to improve electronic records policies - MIT - Your Campus - Boston.com

abernard102@gmail.com 2014-02-16

Summary:

"MIT administrators, responding to questions raised by its internal investigation into the Aaron Swartz case, have proposed steps to improve the school’s electronic records policies and commitment to open access. MIT said Thursday it already is moving to implement several recommendations, including forming a committee that will develop an online data privacy policy and a set of principles, policies, and procedures around access. MIT said it will build a 'gateway website' that will 'provide, in a single location, easy access to documentation concerning policies and procedures [pertaining to electronic records and online data privacy], helpful resources and guidance materials, and links to documentation maintained in various offices across MIT.' The school will also send an email each year to the campus committee to highlight relevant policies and procedures and the institute will train those who have access to and oversight of sensitive electronic records. 'The work here is not finished, but I am pleased that we have concrete results,' statement MIT President L. Rafael Reif said in a statement. 'We now have a lasting mechanism in place to consider the critical issue of how we collect, provide, and retain electronic records, and MIT will soon have an online data privacy policy.' The feedback and recommendations unveiled Thursday were developed over the past several months by working groups of administrators, faculty, staff, and students in response to eight questions posed at the conclusion of a 182-page internal report MIT released in July. The author of the internal report, computer science Professor Hal Abelson, told the Globe's Marcella Bombardieri on Thursday that he believes MIT will make a number of changes ... The report found that campus administrators did not commit any wrongdoing, nor did they press authorities to prosecute Swartz, a 26-year-old Internet activist who took his own life in Jan. 2013 as he faced federal felony computer charges for allegedly hacking into MIT computers and illegally downloading millions of academic journal articles.

But the report raised concerns and questions, including about existing MIT policies around electronic records, open access, and intellectual property. There were also broader questions posed about ethics in the digital domain, MIT’s obligations to extended members of its community, and lessons the institute can draw for its hacker culture from the Swartz case.

Responses to those questions released by MIT Thursday included feedback from a working group that reviewed the question: 'Should MIT strengthen its activities in support of open access to scholarly publications?'  The group suggested that MIT should create a new faculty body to lead the school’s effort to govern open-access. That new body would replace an existing committee who plays a limited role on the issue ..."

Link:

http://www.boston.com/yourcampus/news/mit/2014/02/mit_responds_to_questions_from_its_internal_investigation_into_aaron_swartz_case.html

From feeds:

Open Access Tracking Project (OATP) » abernard102@gmail.com

Tags:

oa.new oa.comment oa.reports oa.mit oa.jstor oa.guerrilla oa.advocacy oa.litigation oa.usa oa.recommendations

Date tagged:

02/16/2014, 10:32

Date published:

02/16/2014, 05:32