Students enrolled in a university in Jiangsu are up in arms, citing invasions of privacy, at proposals that inspectors wear body cameras that record both audio and video during their evening tours of dormitories. But there are two sides to every story.
The students’ concerns stem from Suqian University’s issuing of a document stating that inspectors will use “law-enforcement recorders” from 5 December, while performing their check of dormitory hygiene and on the lookout for any items prohibited on campus, while making sure all students are accounted for.
One student made an online comment, saying, ”This is the first time I have seen dormitory checks linked to law enforcement recorders. Strangers suddenly enter a dormitory and record audio and video… Ddoesn’t this violate privacy rights?”.
The responses came in thick and fast, with many people saying, “You should call the police if you are filmed without permission”.
Then yesterday, 6 December, a Suqian University representative responded to a reporter from The Paper, commenting, “The situation is true, but it has not been implemented yet. We are soliciting opinions from students. If the controversy is too great, it will not be implemented later. That’s the deal”.
As to storage of data, the regulations on the proposed use of the bodycams state that, “The law enforcement-recorder will be kept by a designated person and will be temporarily lent to the inspectors when needed. … No inspector has the right to access any of the data recorded, while data will be cleared once every 3 days to protect the privacy of each student. If a inspector discloses the privacy of others, they shall be punished accordingly”.
But at this point, it is important to note that the inspectors themselves are students. And that the University’s proposals are intended to address the problem of dormitory theft by those very same inspectors.
The aforementioned Suqian University representative went on to say, “With previous dormitory inspections, especially those with no-one present, students would come back from class to then report that personal belongings were missing, and that they suspected the student inspectors. The purpose of drafting this regulation is mainly to prevent this kind of thing from happening”.
Nie Weichang, a practicing lawyer in Chongqing, commented on the case. “Self-management committees are student organisations that inspect dormitories, said Nei. “They have a certain purpose and legitimacy, but the use of law enforcement recorders to inspect and collect evidence suggests an infringement of students’ rights to privacy.”
That the self-management committee clearly knew the issue of personal privacy would be involved, but nevertheless issued the regulations as to the use of bodycams during dormitory inspections, implies they were knowingly breaking the law. Breaking the law, that is, in order to address the breaking of other laws.
