According to a bill that passed the Senate Monday, students at the University of Wyoming and the state’s community colleges should own the material they store on school servers and send in school email accounts. The bill further specifies that writing and correspondence will be kept private unless students are otherwise notified.
The bill passed by a narrow vote of 16 - 13, and is up for review by the governor.
Chris Boswell, Vice President for Governmental and Community Affairs at UW, said the University didn’t work against the bill, but it also didn’t think it was necessary.
“We’ll have to get another signature or two from students and others as we go about business, but ultimately this seeks to stop something that’s not occurring, which is routine trolling of certain information on the part of the university,” said Boswell.
He said the bill prompted good conversation within the legislature about issues of privacy and ownership, but the legislation will not create significant change at UW when and if the bill goes into effect.
