Ministry warns universities to uphold student privacy rights

Taiwan’s Ministry of Education said on 12 September it would take action against universities that might not be upholding students’ rights to privacy, following a report that nearly 40% of universities send grades to their parents, write Rachel Lin and Jake Chung for Taipei Times. The ministry said it would prosecute institutes that fail to observe students’ rights to privacy.

The announcement was made in light of changes to the Civil Code last year that lowered the age of majority to 18. The new age of majority has prompted universities to drop specific requirements such as requiring parents’ signatures for students to suspend their studies or drop out, as well as sending report cards to their parents.

The ministry said in its student rights report that only 61.8% of 152 institutes it surveyed had observed students’ privacy rights and did not send report cards to their parents. The ministry commissioned National Taiwan Normal University to conduct the survey.
Full report on the Taipei Times site