The Mankato Free Press

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency

An ill-conceived plan by the Minnesota State Colleges and University System to make rules to inspect the personal cellphones of MnSCU employees almost at will should be dumped.

The initial proposal announced at the end of March called for MnSCU adjusting its employee rules to allow the system to inspect personal cellphones or mobile devices of employees if they are used for work. If they refused, they could be disciplined.

The initial rule was unprecedented overreach by a government institution with little regard for civil liberties and the right to privacy. Someone at MnSCU needed to say “wait a minute” at the moment this policy plan was hatched. It’s disappointing there appeared to be no such check and balance, and if there was, it seemed it was ignored.

The institution initially defended the plan in line with its duty to keep government data private and secured. We can understand that need for privacy on student grade records for example, or other information deemed private, but we loathe the idea that MnSCU would want to, for example, keep something as mundane as a course syllabus private.

That’s something MnSCU did try to do a couple of years ago and went to court only to be told a course syllabus is public information.

The faculty unions rightfully raised serious questions about the MnSCU cellphone policy. Professors throughout the system began telling their students they couldn’t be emailed or called on their phones because they didn’t want any work to go through something that MnSCU could then search without a warrant.

The faculty union has proposed a compromise plan that calls for MnSCU employees to make a good faith effort to provide work-related information on their phones if requested by their employer. That’s a better plan and we only hope MnSCU sees the reasonableness on this proposal.