Exam scandal offers shades Orwell's fear

Chung Jae-suk, deputy culture news editor of the JoongAng Ilbo on privacy issue surrounding Korea's telecoms handing over the students SMS to the police, following the cheating scheme on the SATs.

"The ubiquitous closed-circuit cameras in our society are not the only menace. In the course of investigating the cheating scheme that used the text messaging function on cell phones in this year's College Scholastic Ability Test, mobile service providers handed over to police a list of text messages exchanged by their customers. The basic principle to safeguard the privacy of the clients was ignored in front of the supposedly grander cause of securing the fairness of the national exam.

The liberty to keep private life private and uninterrupted is the basis and promise of the democratic society. It might have been an exceptional case in the time of emergency, but we need to make sure it is not a sign of the society's inclination to surveillance."

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-- Education Ministry goes after cheaters

-- A Struggle of 18 Days with 280,000 Text Messages

-- 1,625 More Suspected of Exam Cheating

-- South Korean Students Burned for SMS Cheating

-- Answers Relayed From Other Organizations

-- Cheats stir jamming debate

-- Seoul Education Office Took Precautions Against Cheating

-- Students held for (Text Message) exam scam

emily | 4:56 PM | SMS and Students |
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