Privacy commissioner abuzz about Google

Canadian privacy commissioner Jennifer Stoddart wants Google to explain how it will address privacy issues arising from its new social networking tool, Google Buzz.

Stoddart says that Google should have consulted her office before the product’s launch, given the “clear and significant privacy implications” of the tool. Like all multinational companies, Google must abide by Canadian privacy law when launching products accessible to Canadians, she said.

Google launched Buzz last week and has since faced widespread criticism. Users have complained that they were automatically signed up for the service and automatically assigned “followers” based on whom they contact most frequently. Lists of users’ followers were also publicly available in their profiles.

Google has since apologized and has already made some changes. Buzz is now suggesting followers rather than assigning them. The company says that more changes will be made in the next week.—Albert Delitala

Source: Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada

McGill starts Wikipedia club

Students Supporting Wikipedia, the first campus Wikipedia club, was granted interim status by the McGill University student clubs committee in January. The group’s main purpose is to encourage students to contribute to the free online resource. It also plans to raise money for the Wikimedia Foundation through Wiki trivia contests, a poker tournament, bake sales, and a clubbing event.

Another fundraising technique: donation boxes across the campus that read, “If you used Wikipedia today, put in a quarter.” Jay Walsh, spokesperson for Wikimedia Foundation in San Francisco, said the club is an opportunity for students to show their creativity through media activism. He said he hoped it would catch on in other post-secondary institutions.—Tanzeel Hakak

Source: McGill Tribune

U Windsor votes down deal with private college

The University of Windsor senate has voted against contracting the for-profit company Study Group International to prepare courses for international students with weak English language skills who are interested in Windsor’s business program. Three other proposals of this kind in fields including science, computer science, science and social science will be considered by the U of W senate in March.

Brian E. Brown, president of the faculty association at Windsor, said there are no educational reasons for partnering with SGI, only financial ones. Brown said resources should be focused on recruiting regular international students. He expressed concerns that because SGI would hire its own instructors, students would be subject to less qualified instructors who are paid less than regular professors.

Some Canadian universities have started to offer private prep college programs, run by for-profit companies, for international students. Students that meet a requisite GPA then have a chance to get into the university in second year. Fraser International College, affiliated with Simon Fraser University, was the first to enlist a private company. Faculty associations across the country have since argued that the program outsources faculty jobs and provides poor quality of education to students.—Samya Kullab

Source: Maclean’s