University of Iowa Student Files Lawsuit for Privacy Violations
A University of Iowa student alleged that the college violated the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) by not adequately protecting the online security and privacy of its students. Plaintiff Marc Muklewicz filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for Southern Iowa on April 15, saying the university violated data security protocols and student privacy.
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When a video of Muklewicz participating in a university Zoom class was edited "in a defamatory way" and posted to social media, he said he realized that class sessions on Zoom didn't require any authorization or verification to access.
"Plaintiff discovered and documented that the University of Iowa Zoom class sessions could be accessed anonymously by anyone with the link, without requiring university login credentials, passwords or verification," the complaint said. "Plaintiff used screen recordings and testing to show that classes expose names, emails and live video feeds to the public. Despite providing this documentation, the University took no meaningful action to notify students, change access protocols, or address the breach."
According to Muklewicz's complaint, the university's general counsel said instructors can, but aren't required to, enable security for their classes. In addition to the FERPA claims, the suit also alleged counts of negligence, breach of contract and public disclosure of private facts.