Oxford uses Facebook to spy
2007-07-18 07:10
London - For students at the University of Oxford, Facebook is a great way to keep posted on gossip and parties. For university authorities, it's a way to find and fine troublemakers.
After exams, students at the university traditionally drop their serious ways and indulge in a spasm of "trashings" - rowdy revels that include getting covered in foam, eggs and flour by their classmates.
In recent years, students have taken to posting photos of the mess on Facebook, a social networking website popular among young people.
Martin McCluskey, president of the Oxford University Students Union, told The Associated Press on Tuesday that disciplinary officers at the 800-year-old university began e-mailing students whose Facebook profiles contained pictures of "trashings", and issued fines ranging from £40.
McCluskey sent e-mails to all members warning them that they are being spied upon.
"It's fairly disgraceful and underhand," McCluskey said. "Disciplinary procedures are supposed to be transparent."
A university spokesperson, speaking on customary condition of anonymity, confirmed the practice and said it had started after receiving complaints of unruly student behaviour.
"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 behaviour contrary to University regulations will be disciplined," said an Oxford spokesperson, speaking on condition of anonymity in line with university policy.
Alter privacy settings
The student union advised students with Facebook accounts to alter privacy settings "to prohibit members of staff and faculty from viewing your profile and photographs".
The website, which has an estimated 30 million users around the world, has seen its surge in popularity coincide with an increase in the number of cases of individuals caught out by their membership of the site.
Last week, a US beauty queen Amy Polumbo was made to sweat over whether she would be stripped of her Miss New Jersey crown. Organisers were sent photos from Polumbo's Facebook page showing her acting "not in a ladylike manner" - including one where her boyfriend appears to bite 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, told The AP that she received 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. I think it's an appalling thing to do," she said.
The university first introduced fines for misdemeanours including fluid spraying and egg hurling in 2004.
- AP