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For Immediate Release
December 7th, 2021
Young Americans for Liberty
Media Contact: Luka Ladan
Young Americans for Liberty Blocks COVID-19 Tracking App at University of Nebraska
YAL defeats Bluetooth tracking and COVID-19 checkpoint policies with Student Rights Campaign
Austin, TX — Today, Young Americans for Liberty (YAL) celebrated a victory at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, where the campus no longer allows COVID-19 tracking apps or Bluetooth tracking writ large. It marks the first Student Rights Campaign (SRC) victory for YAL, which currently oversees nearly 70 SRCs across the country. In blocking Nebraska’s tracking app, the organization successfully defended the privacy rights of more than 26,000 students.
A recent YAL social media post, celebrating the victory, can be accessed here.
In January 2021, Nebraska Chancellor Ronnie Green announced the use of a new COVID-19 app on campus, broadly known as the “Safer Community” app. The app stored students’ testing and vaccination status with color-coding, while students were required to open the app and “show their papers” to access university buildings. By August 2021, YAL state chair Zachary Gale had planned out an SRC for Nebraska at the organization’s Revolution 2021 conference, preparing a petition to circulate on campus.
On October 20th, Gale officially launched the SRC petition (see here), targeting the requirement of an app-based status check to access university buildings and usage of the app’s contact tracing system that sent “tokens” from phone to phone via Bluetooth to expand contact tracing. By the end of November, Gale had collected more than 500 signatures. Shortly thereafter, on December 1st, Chancellor Green announced that the “Safer Community” app will no longer be required to enter Nebraska’s university buildings.
“I was just trying to warn people about the university’s threat to student liberty, from Bluetooth contact tracking to ‘papers-please’ status check apps for entering buildings,” said Gale. “Thankfully, Nebraskans care deeply about their freedoms, and our petition to end the so-called ‘Safer Community’ app garnered enough support to put an end to our university’s tyrannical COVID-19 guidelines.”
“A year-and-a-half into ’15 days to slow the spread,’ students are standing up to demand their privacy and autonomy,” said YAL Director of Free Speech JP Kirby. “Zach and his team reached their classmates, confronted Nebraska’s board of regents, and took the action necessary to take their rights back. This victory for the Student Rights Campaign shows what can happen when students realize the only way to preserve their own freedoms are to answer the call to action and take bold, decisive steps to wrestle them from the hands of bureaucrats.”
You can follow YAL on Twitter @YALiberty. To schedule an interview, please contact Luka Ladan at Luka.Ladan@ZenicaPR.com or (617) 932-9120.
The Safer Community app is available to support the university community during the COVID-19 pandemic. Safer Community offers the most convenient, most secure and most direct tool for managing your COVID-19 testing and building access. Use of the app is strongly recommended for all students, faculty and staff.
Built to Protect Your Privacy
The safety and privacy of our faculty, staff and students is our top priority. We have built this app with privacy at its foundation. It collects as little data as possible and has strong data security. For more information about how we have prioritized privacy and security, visit the Safer Community Privacy Statement.
Safer Community Privacy Statement
This Application Privacy Statement applies to the Safer Community application, available on Android, iOS and the web.
NU is committed to respecting individuals’ privacy. By choosing to continue to use the Safer Community application, you agree to NU’s collection and use of personal information and non-personal information as described in this Application Privacy Statement. This Application Privacy Statement only governs the use and disclosure of information collected through the Safer Community application.
Collection of Information
You are not required to provide the personal information requested by the Application; however, you may not be able to use some of the features offered by the Application if you choose not to provide your personal information. By providing us with your personal information, you are consenting to our use of it in accordance with this Privacy Statement.
The Safer Community app uses GPS to provide the user with interactive maps and outdoor geofenced notifications to find test locations.
The Safer Community app uses SSID/BSSID (WiFi) to provide geofenced notifications to indoor test locations where GPS does not work.
The Safer Community app uses Photos and Cameras to allow a user to import their personal encryption key (QR code) into the app and to allow reporting of a test result from a non-UNL testing center.
The Safer Community app uses Videos and Cameras to allow a user to import their personal encryption key (QR code) into the app and to allow reporting of a test result from a non-UNL testing center.
The Safer Community app uses Files to allow a user to import their personal encryption key (QR code) into the app and to allow reporting of a test result from a non-UNL testing center.
Personally Identifiable Information (“PII”). “Personally Identifiable Information” for purposes of this Privacy Statement means information that can be used to identify, contact, or locate an individual, as well as test results and reported symptoms. The Application collects the following PII from you, from University information systems, and from your healthcare provider: your name, your email address, your phone number, your local physical address, your NUID, student registration information, your test results, information required by the Lincoln-Lancaster County Health Department, any voluntarily reported symptoms, and your building access status.
Use of Information
NU will only use your personal data on a lawful basis to fulfill a legitimate interest of the University of Nebraska. NU may use information collected from your visit to this application in the following ways:
Notification to state or local health department
Contact tracing
Building access status
Compliance measures related to Student Code of Conduct
Ability to make public-health related decisions
Disclosure or Sharing of Information
NU may use third party service providers and suppliers to facilitate this application or the services NU provides. Those providers and suppliers may have access to the information NU collects in order to fulfill their obligations to NU. NU is a state agency, and as such may disclose or share information in compliance with applicable state, federal, or international laws.
Data Protection
NU is bound by certain privacy rules that protect data regarding students, faculty, and staff. Student information is subject to FERPA (Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act) regulations. Faculty and staff data is treated as personnel information, which is covered under NU Board of Regents Policy 6.7. All data systems involved in the analysis and reporting of your test results, including this application, are designed with the highest standards of encryption and security protocols for maintaining data classified with this level of sensitivity.
Questions
If you have questions about the collection or use of information, you should contact the COVID task force by emailing covid19@unl.edu.
Changes to this Online Privacy Statement
NU may periodically update this Application Privacy Statement.
Updated November 17, 2021
From Editor Betsy Combier:
See Parentadvocates.org:
How One College Student Fought His School's 'Free Speech Zone' - And Won
