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Virginia Tech's people search database, also known as Hokie Stalker, has recently changed their privacy settings for all students and staff.
The database is accessed from the Tech website via a search bar in the upper right-hand corner. It holds contact information for nearly all current students and faculty.
The average search will turn up a Hokie's name, major, email address, local phone number and local address. Since it was created, the default setting was for all faculty and students information to be public unless they adjusted their privacy settings, but that's recently been changed.
"We wanted to make sure it was the student's choice how much information was on the site, not the university's," said Susan Brooker-Gross, director for policy and communications for Tech's IT department.
As of December, the default is now private unless a student accesses their my.vt.edu account and changes their availability. The change hasn't been noticeable until the beginning of the fall semester, as it only applies to new students.
Even though the recent change affects roughly a quarter of the student population, few students have noticed.
"I didn't notice the change, but I'm not generally searching for freshmen when I use it," said Laura Ransone, a senior in hospitality and tourism management.
To change the privacy settings, visit the my.vt.edu website. After logging in, click the link under "Contact Info" that reads "Manage your Profile Visibility." There, you can use check boxes to adjust how much information is available.
A version of this article appeared in the Sep 27 issue of the Collegiate Times.
Leave a comment 10 Comments Write a letter to the editor
All letters to the editor must include a name, e-mail, daytime phone number and affiliation to Virginia Tech. Affiliation includes: year and major for students; position and department for faculty and staff; current city for alumni and parents.
I think a better choice would have been to force new students to make a choice the first time they logged in to Hokie SPA. With the new default settings, 90% of students will be unsearchable simply because they were unaware that they needed to change something in order to be listed.
I also think names E-mail addresses should always be turned up unless there is a good reason not to.
Not everyone uses the database to 'stalk' people...some of us use it for e-mail address autocomplete, and it is very valuable for that!
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I remember when there wasn't even an option to make anything private
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I agree. I run a few clubs, and it's the best way to make sure I've spelled someone's name and email address correctly. I hope your idea gets implemented, though.
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That's a great idea. I hope they implement it. I run a few clubs, and vt.edu is a great way to make sure I have people's names and email addresses spelled correctly.
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