The announcement of the new emergency text message system stated that "because cell phone numbers provided will be used only in the event of an emergency, they will be kept private and are exempt from Florida's public records laws."
Why then was there a notice in Tuesday's text to see the Mobile Campus Web site for more information? This is concerning.
We already receive enough advertising due to public records laws. Our phone numbers were supposed to be private and UF has breached this by providing them to Mobile Campus. Even if they have promised not to use the information for other purposes, I still question the legality and ethics of this decision.
Second, if this system is run through Mobile Campus, what happens in the event of a real emergency? I doubt that the security needed for a potentially life-saving system is in place in a program previously used to send pizza coupons.
While a real emergency text might not be "sponsored" by Mobile Campus, UF has already left doubt as to where this information would be posted in a real emergency.
