The administration dropped the migration policy today and agreed to keep our current infrastructure. It has been an incredibly long road but seeing this reversed makes the fatigue feel worth it. We need to stay alert to ensure they fully commit to these restored services.
March 26, 2014
Final supporters
We the undersigned say
-NO to the outsourcing of email and calendar services to a private ISP (e.g. Microsoft)
-NO to being forced to store all our data on either an on-campus 'cloud' server or external ones
-NO to having our hard-drives wiped
-NO to losing the minimal admin rights we have to access and use a range of hardware, digital tools and services that can include open source and free software
-NO to losing desktop printers for students and staff members for sensitive research and support services
-NO to the waste in good hardware and other computing equipment as a result of this forced migration policy
-NO to the inadequate privacy provisions for accessing and using cloud data storage services
We do say
-YES to on campus servers that can provide the standard of services, data protection, and IT help that Higher Education institutions rely on and need in a digital age
-YES to being able to access and control how we use our computers, the web, and third party services in accordance with the required standards of privacy for teaching and research
-YES to a better resourced IT Support Services department that can retain staff with the skills and knowledge that we need to support a range of digital tools and platforms
-YES to open access, open source and free software options and the right to decide where we want to store our data, whether on hard-drives or a cloud service
-YES to having a choice in what tools we use for teaching and research, and to how we store our data
- YES to having a say on future decisions affecting teaching, research, and learning in a digital age.
We call upon the Senior Management
Team
1) to review the contract with Microsoft for the MS Office 365 Cloud Email and Calendar services in light of the recent revelations, and
2) to stop the forced Desktop Migration that will deny staff and students the right to exercise discretion on whether or not cloud computing services are suitable for teaching and research
Updates
January 30, 2014
Reaching this level of support has been exhausting yet it confirms we are right to question these changes. This movement is growing heavier every day and I am honestly drained but I am not stopping here.
Reached 100 supporters
January 30, 2014
51 Comments
I've used systems in the past that require cloud access for software and have not had positive experiences. Having to have good internet access in order to use programmes that are data-greedy including SPSS, will limit how and where we can work. I also use a lot of free software for complex image analysis, I have concerns about accessing these resources.
Publishers routinely use email now to convey pdf and other files for editing and proofreading purposes--often on tight deadlines. This would appear to fall under legitimate Goldsmiths work. With ongoing projects, particularly, a radical change of server and/or outsourced email and having one's hard-drive 'wiped' could have serious consequences, both for efficiency and privacy.
I was without my machine for 3 weeks in September and October 2013 (this is documented with the Help Desk and IT) - all because of problems with the campus server. We simply *can't* rely on the server 100% of the time, be it for teaching preparations, research or printing.
For years we've been told not to use cloud based software due to various legal issues. Prism and Snowden are not inconsiderable totems to plainly ignore and change policy based purely on cost analysis.
I am very concerned about how we manage our teaching, admin and data confidentiality if printers are in a non secure, open area. This plan seems ill-thought through and at risk of contravening at least two acts: Data Protection and the Equality Act.
I would like to be able to access and manage my files locally from my computer and not from Goldsmiths Cloud
MS thin clients would make good doorstops.
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The administration dropped the migration policy today and agreed to keep our current infrastructure. It has been an incredibly long road but seeing this reversed makes the fatigue feel worth it. We need to stay alert to ensure they fully commit to these restored services.
March 26, 2014
Final supporters
We the undersigned say
-NO to the outsourcing of email and calendar services to a private ISP (e.g. Microsoft)
-NO to being forced to store all our data on either an on-campus 'cloud' server or external ones
-NO to having our hard-drives wiped
-NO to losing the minimal admin rights we have to access and use a range of hardware, digital tools and services that can include open source and free software
-NO to losing desktop printers for students and staff members for sensitive research and support services
-NO to the waste in good hardware and other computing equipment as a result of this forced migration policy
-NO to the inadequate privacy provisions for accessing and using cloud data storage services
We do say
-YES to on campus servers that can provide the standard of services, data protection, and IT help that Higher Education institutions rely on and need in a digital age
-YES to being able to access and control how we use our computers, the web, and third party services in accordance with the required standards of privacy for teaching and research
-YES to a better resourced IT Support Services department that can retain staff with the skills and knowledge that we need to support a range of digital tools and platforms
-YES to open access, open source and free software options and the right to decide where we want to store our data, whether on hard-drives or a cloud service
-YES to having a choice in what tools we use for teaching and research, and to how we store our data
- YES to having a say on future decisions affecting teaching, research, and learning in a digital age.
We call upon the Senior Management
Team
1) to review the contract with Microsoft for the MS Office 365 Cloud Email and Calendar services in light of the recent revelations, and
2) to stop the forced Desktop Migration that will deny staff and students the right to exercise discretion on whether or not cloud computing services are suitable for teaching and research
Updates
January 30, 2014
Reaching this level of support has been exhausting yet it confirms we are right to question these changes. This movement is growing heavier every day and I am honestly drained but I am not stopping here.
Reached 100 supporters
January 30, 2014
51 Comments
I do not wish to be limited in my choice of and access to tools that I need for conducting experiments and analyzing my data. I do not wish to be locked into a specific workflow or software ecosystem.
I've used systems in the past that require cloud access for software and have not had positive experiences. Having to have good internet access in order to use programmes that are data-greedy including SPSS, will limit how and where we can work. I also use a lot of free software for complex image analysis, I have concerns about accessing these resources.
Publishers routinely use email now to convey pdf and other files for editing and proofreading purposes--often on tight deadlines. This would appear to fall under legitimate Goldsmiths work. With ongoing projects, particularly, a radical change of server and/or outsourced email and having one's hard-drive 'wiped' could have serious consequences, both for efficiency and privacy.
I was without my machine for 3 weeks in September and October 2013 (this is documented with the Help Desk and IT) - all because of problems with the campus server. We simply *can't* rely on the server 100% of the time, be it for teaching preparations, research or printing.
For years we've been told not to use cloud based software due to various legal issues. Prism and Snowden are not inconsiderable totems to plainly ignore and change policy based purely on cost analysis.
I am very concerned about how we manage our teaching, admin and data confidentiality if printers are in a non secure, open area. This plan seems ill-thought through and at risk of contravening at least two acts: Data Protection and the Equality Act.
I would like to be able to access and manage my files locally from my computer and not from Goldsmiths Cloud
MS thin clients would make good doorstops.
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I do not wish to be limited in my choice of and access to tools that I need for conducting experiments and analyzing my data. I do not wish to be locked into a specific workflow or software ecosystem.