Collecting information on students -
where does it go?
Americans have not yet absorbed the full implications of the sea change that has transpired in their public educational system.
We first mention the following federal court case, in which one of the accused, Mustafa Basgun, is/was a board member of Fulton Science Academy, a Gulen charter school in Georgia. Another of the accused, Altan Kalayci, was a judge at the Turkish Olympiads of the Southeast. They also, along with the other two defendants, are associated with the Istanbul Center and Global Spectrum Foundation, Gulenist dialog organizations.
Setanta Sports North America Limited, as Broadcast Licensee of the March 24, 2007 Greece/Turkey Soccer Program
v.
Ismail Sanli, Altan Kalayci, Aydogan Karabulut and Mustafa Basgun, individually, and as officers, directors, shareholders and/or principals of Global Spectrum Foundation, Inc. d/b/a/ Istanbul Cultural Center a/k/a Istanbul Center a/k/a/ Istanbul Cultural Ctr., and Global Spectrum Foundation, Inc. d/b/a Istanbul Cultural Center a/k/a/ Istanbul Center a/k/a Istanbul Cultural Ctr..
The essence of this federal case was the accusation that these individuals knowingly and deliberately engaged in the act of illegally intercepting a satellite broadcast signal and re-transmitting it to various cable and satellite systems. The complaint document (below) lists the various methods that could have been used to perform this illegal act, from which it is clear that technical expertise well beyond that of the average person would have been required. We note that Mustafa Basgun lists on his “Linked in” page that his specialties are “Software Development and IT Management.” Altan Kalayci is/was a “software engineer”.
The complaint document detailing the accusations can be downloaded here:
| doc_1.pdf |
The statutory penalties mentioned in the complaint document are in the hundreds of thousands of dollars. The case was settled out of court with the defendants paying Setanta Sports an unspecified amount. Indeed, we know of no lawsuit against Gulenists that was not settled out of court. It seems that when money is needed to rescue the reputation of Gulenists, it always appears somehow from somewhere. The terms of the settlement, which are partially given in the following notice of settlement document, strongly suggest that the accusations had substantial basis, as Setanta Sports did not agree to dismiss its claim or give up its right to pursue further litigation until the entire payment was received.
| doc_11.pdf |
We believe that this lawsuit provides evidence suggesting that at least some Gulenists have no compunction about using their technical skills to manipulate digital data in illegal and questionable ways.
While parents have aired many complaints about our public education system, to date, the privacy of their child’s school records has not been much of an issue. Laws in the United States do a good job of protecting students’ privacy, and there are stiff penalties for school administrators or employees who violate these laws.
What is unprecedented in the history of American education is the nearly complete control of a large number of public schools by a secretive, technologically savvy, politico-religious group consisting of people with close ties to another country.
This group happens to avidly collect student data electronically. Nearly every website of the well over 100 Gulen charter schools refers to a student information system that collects data on academic performance as well as discipline. In many of these schools this information system is touted as a unique and innovative benefit of the school that allows for better parental involvement. In the Harmony Public School system, a chain of Gulen charter schools in Texas, it has been publicly stated that the data entered into these systems even include how often the students visit the bathroom. The justification cited is that such data have been shown to correlate with student academic performance.
Moreover, it appears that while many Gulen charter schools initially lease their facilities, in time they tend to move into buildings that are custom-made for the school (in some cases by Gulenist construction companies). These buildings invariably have sophisticated security sytems installed in them with numerous cameras. We have heard reports of schools having cameras in the student bathrooms. Evidence also suggests that the security systems are installed by Gulenist companies.
All Gulen charter schools have a system of home visits. Typically, one or two teachers or administrators travel to each student’s home for a brief visit with student and parents. All students’ families are offered a home visit, and it seems that the compliance rate is very high (according to data given in several charter applications, it may range from 70-90% or even higher in some cases). While parents are told that these visits are aimed at improving the “parent-teacher-student triad” or increasing parental involvement, some charter applications submitted to local or state authorities indicate that an assessment of the socio-economic status of the family is made. Based on this, it seems highly likely that notes are taken after all these visits and entered into a database. To the best of our knowledge, these schools have made no promise to parents or government regulatory officials to keep any personal information obtained during a home visit private.
We wonder if parents and state officials have considered the following:
What happens when the information from the student databases, or videos collected using the security systems, or data collected in home visits is transferred to Turkey or some Central Asian country? And perhaps from there on to another country, one that might possibly not be very friendly towards the United States?
Have parents and state officials considered that it may be extremely difficult to enforce United States privacy laws in a foreign country?
What if a student that attended a Gulen charter school decides to pursue a sensitive career later in life – say a high-level position in the military, government, law enforcement, or intelligence? What might be the implications of someone in a foreign country having access to videos of their school years, including their bathroom visits, or detailed data about their academic performance and disciplinary records in school?
Many Gulenists are specialists in areas such as information technology, communications technology, database handling, networking and cryptology. There is no doubt that the Gulen Movement has the manpower and expertise to collect, handle and analyze data about us without our even knowing it.
We emphasize that we would not have concerns such as these about individuals simply because they come from a foreign country. We are well aware that foreign nationals and immigrants have made many positive contributions to the American educational system. Rather, the concerns mentioned above arise because of the massive evidence pointing to the fact that the Gulen Movement is a highly coordinated and secretive international organization with goals other than education, and with followers who are subservient to whatever Gulen directs, as documented in a Nov 10, 2010 article in The New Republic, as well as by statements of former adherents. In every Gulen charter school, it is the Gulenists who are in complete control of both the student information system and the security systems. Further, there have been numerous credible accusations that Gulenists have used wiretapping and video monitoring in Turkey as tactics to obtain political control. It is all these considerations combined that lead to the concerns.
Those parents and officials who may protest at this point that they know Gulenists personally and cannot believe they would ever engage in any activities involving improper handling of data or violation of any laws might want to look carefully at the Setanta Sports federal case.
While parents have aired many complaints about our public education system, to date, the privacy of their child’s school records has not been much of an issue. Laws in the United States do a good job of protecting students’ privacy, and there are stiff penalties for school administrators or employees who violate these laws.
What is unprecedented in the history of American education is the nearly complete control of a large number of public schools by a secretive, technologically savvy, politico-religious group consisting of people with close ties to another country.
This group happens to avidly collect student data electronically. Nearly every website of the well over 100 Gulen charter schools refers to a student information system that collects data on academic performance as well as discipline. In many of these schools this information system is touted as a unique and innovative benefit of the school that allows for better parental involvement. In the Harmony Public School system, a chain of Gulen charter schools in Texas, it has been publicly stated that the data entered into these systems even include how often the students visit the bathroom. The justification cited is that such data have been shown to correlate with student academic performance.
Moreover, it appears that while many Gulen charter schools initially lease their facilities, in time they tend to move into buildings that are custom-made for the school (in some cases by Gulenist construction companies). These buildings invariably have sophisticated security sytems installed in them with numerous cameras. We have heard reports of schools having cameras in the student bathrooms. Evidence also suggests that the security systems are installed by Gulenist companies.
All Gulen charter schools have a system of home visits. Typically, one or two teachers or administrators travel to each student’s home for a brief visit with student and parents. All students’ families are offered a home visit, and it seems that the compliance rate is very high (according to data given in several charter applications, it may range from 70-90% or even higher in some cases). While parents are told that these visits are aimed at improving the “parent-teacher-student triad” or increasing parental involvement, some charter applications submitted to local or state authorities indicate that an assessment of the socio-economic status of the family is made. Based on this, it seems highly likely that notes are taken after all these visits and entered into a database. To the best of our knowledge, these schools have made no promise to parents or government regulatory officials to keep any personal information obtained during a home visit private.
We wonder if parents and state officials have considered the following:
What happens when the information from the student databases, or videos collected using the security systems, or data collected in home visits is transferred to Turkey or some Central Asian country? And perhaps from there on to another country, one that might possibly not be very friendly towards the United States?
Have parents and state officials considered that it may be extremely difficult to enforce United States privacy laws in a foreign country?
What if a student that attended a Gulen charter school decides to pursue a sensitive career later in life – say a high-level position in the military, government, law enforcement, or intelligence? What might be the implications of someone in a foreign country having access to videos of their school years, including their bathroom visits, or detailed data about their academic performance and disciplinary records in school?
Many Gulenists are specialists in areas such as information technology, communications technology, database handling, networking and cryptology. There is no doubt that the Gulen Movement has the manpower and expertise to collect, handle and analyze data about us without our even knowing it.
We emphasize that we would not have concerns such as these about individuals simply because they come from a foreign country. We are well aware that foreign nationals and immigrants have made many positive contributions to the American educational system. Rather, the concerns mentioned above arise because of the massive evidence pointing to the fact that the Gulen Movement is a highly coordinated and secretive international organization with goals other than education, and with followers who are subservient to whatever Gulen directs, as documented in a Nov 10, 2010 article in The New Republic, as well as by statements of former adherents. In every Gulen charter school, it is the Gulenists who are in complete control of both the student information system and the security systems. Further, there have been numerous credible accusations that Gulenists have used wiretapping and video monitoring in Turkey as tactics to obtain political control. It is all these considerations combined that lead to the concerns.
Those parents and officials who may protest at this point that they know Gulenists personally and cannot believe they would ever engage in any activities involving improper handling of data or violation of any laws might want to look carefully at the Setanta Sports federal case.
