Warning about misconduct committed by academics is not that simple

In June, DUB published an article, together with university magazines Ad Valvas and Observant, about a professor from UU's Faculty of Social Sciences who had just accepted his resignation after being accused of sexual misconduct. The man seems to have committed similar transgressions at VU Amsterdam, Maastricht University and the University of Pennsylvania.

Talking to the Dutch newspaper Algemeen Dagblad, a spokesperson for Utrecht University said that universities should be able to inform each other about such issues. But the Minister of Education Dijkgraaf warns that sharing data of this kind can all too easily violate privacy laws.  that sharing data of this nature can easily violate privacy laws.

“I deeply regret that events at higher education institutions have caused students and staff to feel unsafe”, the minister says. He also confirms that institutions are “not obliged to exchange warning signs with each other”. 

Exceptional cases 
Dijkgraaf goes on to explain that such an obligation would be difficult to realise. He insists that sensitive information can only be shared between institutions in exceptional cases. An individual’s right to privacy always has to be taken into consideration. 

He gave an example from the world of sport, where a social safety centre collected and shared data on “alleged and accused perpetrators”. However, a court ruled that there was insufficient basis for processing criminal data in these circumstances. In short, the privacy of the people whose data was stored and shared outweighed any perceived benefit. 

The minister's political party, D66, would like to see a single, national hotline to report misconduct of this kind in higher education. The minister has declined to comment on this plan for the time being. He is awaiting the findings of research into the complaint and reporting procedures in higher education, and plans to use this as a basis for discussions with the institutions.