We’ve all seen it—the board that approaches each desk, disrupting students from focusing on their exam for those few crucial moments. We quickly scribble our name and continue on, not realizing the wealth of information at our hands.
Every student in the class is required to write their name and student numbers on these sheets, which are then passed around without any attempt at hiding this information.
At Carleton, our student number is like a password. It can gain us access to a wealth of private information.
So why does Carleton insist we keep it confidential, and then proceed to pass it around the Field House?
The university should look into a new system which protects students instead of exposing them. The technology for it already exists.
There are programs at Carleton that use online sign-in sheets, which erase the students’ information from the page after they click “submit.” What’s more, this process is done through the Carleton website.
Not only is this safer for students, it would also save time and money. This information is directly added to a log, instead of having to be inputed manually. Updating this antiquated process is a win-win situation.
So why are we still writing down our information? Carleton has the capabilities to implement this, and all it would take is a bit of time and, the day of, a computer—something most TAs already have.
Carleton can, and should, take the necessary steps to protect its students’ privacy.
