URY News has learned that the University’s MyUoY app pilot, has been plagued by concerns around data security. The app, which included a ‘check-in’ function, asked students to register their attendance at contact hours through logging in and verifying their location.
Tom O’Neill, Computer Science department rep, described to us how computer science students ‘immediately’ found ‘a number’ of data-related concerns, including them being able to access the personal data of other students, including addresses, through the system which the app linked to.
Students involved in the pilot were informed of ‘security concerns’ in an email from the student app team, but the extent of the insecurities discovered have not been revealed. While the University has no legal obligation to inform students, as the extent of logging enabled them to prove that no data was lost outside of the test, the lack of engagement with students could raise concerns.
The MyUoY app was taken down following the discovery of these issues, and then relaunched recently. This second launch ended with the app being taken down again in Week One this term, which was a result of further data security issues, although students have not been informed of this.
The University has said that the pilot start dates are ‘under review’ and that they are expecting to relaunch the app later this month, but it remains to be seen whether they can assuage students’ concerns around data security.
In response to our article, the University sent us this statement:
“The University is currently undertaking a number of projects to support the student journey, including the development of the new MyUoY app for students. MyUoY is planned for University wide release for academic year 20/21 and consultation, development and testing is underway involving different student groups to develop an app focused on student needs.
The Attendance project is piloting a new check-in service to support the collection of attendance data which will be delivered through the app. While many departments already make a record of student attendance at teaching events, there is a variety of practice across the University. The University Strategy commits to offering all students an outstanding and valuable experience by the creation of a supportive learning environment through which students can develop to reach their full academic and personal potential. Key to achieving this objective is a greater focus on understanding participation in teaching and learning activities as evidence suggests that student awareness of their patterns of attendance and engagement influences future behaviours, and has a positive impact on retention and outcomes. Although University regulations stipulate that students should be present at all teaching or academic engagements arranged for their programme, monitoring of student attendance has been at the discretion of Departments, resulting in multiple practices and policies, and methods of data collection. Going forward mechanisms to accurately gather data on attendance will need to be embedded within current structures to enable prompt identification of those students who may be at risk, and who may require additional support in order to complete their studies.
The app is currently in testing with a small number of students with restricted functionality and data. A small number of issues, not related to attendance data or other personal data, were identified by students during this testing process and reported to IT Services. This data did not relate to the check-in features, but was related to an integration with the library system. The affected part of the app was shut down and the issue has now been fixed by the supplier. Further work is ongoing with the supplier. The app will not go live until the process of testing functionality and security has been completed.”
