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Social media posts/accounts

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Dear University College London,

In December, the Daily Express found that “UK universities admitted to “monitoring” or “listening to” their student’s social media accounts”. Please see here: https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/153557...

In light of this, I would like to request the following information:

(1) Please indicate whether the university is currently monitoring, or has previously monitored, students and staff’s social media posts/accounts.

(2) If the university is currently monitoring, or has previously monitored, students and staff’s social media posts/accounts, could you please provide reasons as to why this is the case. Please also provide copies of policies or guidelines in relation to the monitoring of students and staff’ social media posts.

(3) If the university is currently monitoring, or has previously monitored, students and staff’s social media posts/accounts, could you please indicate whether this was in regards to (i) environmental protests (ii) rent strikes (iii) other protests or strike action.

(4) If the university is currently monitoring, or has previously monitored, students and staff’s social media posts/accounts, could you please state whether any specific software is used.

(5) If the university is currently monitoring, or has previously monitored, students and staff’s social media posts/accounts, could you please indicate whether this is carried out internally or that this function is outsourced. If it is outsourced, please provide details.

I would like to receive this information in an electronic format. If you feel that a substantive response to this request is not possible within a reasonable time frame, I would be grateful if you could contact me and provide assistance as to how I can refine the request. If you need any clarification, please contact me. I look forward to receiving a response in 20 working days. Many thanks.

Yours faithfully,

Jenna Corderoy

Finance.FOI Requests, University College London

If you have submitted a Freedom of Information request please accept this
email as acknowledgement that your request has been received. You should
expect a response from us within 20 working days. 
For details on how we use your personal information, please see UCL's
general privacy
notice: [1]www.ucl.ac.uk/legal-services/privacy/general-privacy-notice
Data Protection Office
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Good morning,

Could I please have an update to this request? I'm not sure what's going on, but I have not received any prompt replies from the university and I am considering making a complaint to the ICO.

Yours faithfully,

Jenna Corderoy

Finance.FOI Requests, University College London

Dear Ms Corderoy,

Apologies for the delay in responding to your request for information.

By way of update [on your request for information [FOI 022 - 360], we have been collating the information required to respond to your request and are currently reviewing it to check whether any exemptions apply.

We will get back to you as soon as we can and we thank you for your patience while we process your request.

If, however, you no longer require this information, please let us know by responding to this email.

Kind regards,

Mehwish Sultan
Senior Data Protection and Freedom of Information Adviser
Data Protection Office
University College London
E: [email address]; Data Protection: [email address]; FOI: [UCL request email].
Office phone: +44 (0)203 108 7862 (internal extension: 57862); Mobile: +44 (0)7525285822

Working hours: Please note that my current working hours are Monday to Friday 8am – 4pm.
If you have a general query relating to data protection at UCL, you may find the FAQs on the data protection website helpful.

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Er, Handan, University College London

Dear Ms Corderoy,

 

We apologise for the delay in responding to your request for information
FOI 022 – 360 and we thank you for your patience while we process this.

 

UCL is committed to transparency and its obligations under the Freedom of
Information Act 2000.

 

We are currently experiencing a high volume of freedom of information
requests but please be assured that we are working on your request as a
priority. We will aim to respond as soon as possible.

 

If, however, you no longer require this information, please let us know by
responding to this email.

 

Kind regards,

Handan

 

 

Handan Er

Data Protection and Freedom of Information Adviser

University College London

Legal Services

E:[email address]; Data Protection: [1][email address]; FOI:
[2][UCL request email].

Office phone: +44 (0)203 108 4277 (internal extension: 54277);

 

References

Visible links
1. mailto:[email address]
2. mailto:[UCL request email]

Finance.FOI Requests, University College London

Dear Ms Corderoy,

Thank you for your request dated 30th May and we apologise for the delay in responding to you.

We have completed the compilation of information in response to your request.

We can confirm that we do not hold information of the description specified in your request.

Your request and our response

In December, the Daily Express found that “UK universities admitted to “monitoring” or “listening to” their student’s social media accounts”. Please see here: https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/153557...

In light of this, I would like to request the following information:

(1) Please indicate whether the university is currently monitoring, or has previously monitored, students and staff’s social media posts/accounts.

(2) If the university is currently monitoring, or has previously monitored, students and staff’s social media posts/accounts, could you please provide reasons as to why this is the case. Please also provide copies of policies or guidelines in relation to the monitoring of students and staff’ social media posts.

(3) If the university is currently monitoring, or has previously monitored, students and staff’s social media posts/accounts, could you please indicate whether this was in regards to (i) environmental protests (ii) rent strikes (iii) other protests or strike action.

(4) If the university is currently monitoring, or has previously monitored, students and staff’s social media posts/accounts, could you please state whether any specific software is used.

(5) If the university is currently monitoring, or has previously monitored, students and staff’s social media posts/accounts, could you please indicate whether this is carried out internally or that this function is outsourced. If it is outsourced, please provide details.

I would like to receive this information in an electronic format. If you feel that a substantive response to this request is not possible within a reasonable time frame, I would be grateful if you could contact me and provide assistance as to how I can refine the request. If you need any clarification, please contact me. I look forward to receiving a response in 20 working days. Many thanks.

We do not routinely monitor the social media accounts belonging to the students of UCL. The only circumstances in which we might take note of an individual's account for a short time would be if their posts had come to our notice as part of our brand tracking* and highlighted a specific issue. 

*UCL uses software for brand tracking to find UCL mentions across social media channels and measure the impact that our own social media posts make on our own accounts.  Meltwater (UK) Limited are the software provider, which identifies social media posts that meet the criteria we set, i.e. those that mention us in some way. However, it doesn't keep an independent record of those posts - to appear on Meltwater it must be publicly visible on social media and could be found in other ways.

You are free to use any information supplied for your own use, including for non-commercial research purposes. The information may also be used for the purposes of news reporting. However, any other type of re-use, for example by publishing or issuing copies to the public, will require the permission of the copyright owner.

If you are unhappy with our response to your request and wish to make a complaint or request a review of our decision, please email [email address]. Emails should include the words ‘Internal Review’ in the subject and be marked For the Attention of the Vice-President (Operations), alternatively you should write to:

Vice-President (Operations)
University College London
Gower Street
London
WC1E 6BT

Please note, complaints and requests for internal review received more than two months after the initial decision will not be handled.

If you are not content with the outcome of the internal review, you may apply directly to the Information Commissioner at the address given below. You should do this within two months of our final decision.

If you have any queries or concerns, please contact me using the details provided in this letter and including the request reference number.

Further information on the Freedom of Information Act is available from the Information Commissioner’s Office:

Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
SK9 5AF

01625 545700
www.ico.org.uk
[email address]

Kind regards,

Chris Hayward
Data Protection and Freedom of Information Adviser
Data Protection Office University College London
[email address]

Please consider the environment before printing this email.

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We don't know whether the most recent response to this request contains information or not – if you are Jenna Corderoy please sign in and let everyone know.