My first two startup jobs were in the Canadian health and education sectors, respectively. As government responsibilities, education and health care are covered by provincial freedom of information and privacy protection (FOIPP) laws. They go by different names in each province; Manitoba's is known as FIPPA.
In general, the laws are pretty strict about not releasing information. Student and health information is not supposed to be available to anyone except on a need-to-know basis, much less made available publicly. Our product had to have an elaborate system of permissions to prevent instructors from inappropriately viewing student data. Even something as apparently innocuous as posting a list of grades matched up against student names or IDs is forbidden.
The laws aren't for show, either. Everyone I interacted with in the course of that job, from bureaucrats down to individual instructors, took FOIPP very seriously. FOIPP compliance was a non-negotiable feature, and FOIPP violation bugs were always highest priority.
Typically, instructors become aware of student disabilities when they are asked to make special arrangements, such as arranging assistant note takers or special exams. Anyone who reveals that information is breaking educational and medical privacy, and would be in for a world of hurt.
I'm not aware if there are special exceptions for information released in the course of a lawsuit, but I'm not surprised that the university reacted severely. They take those laws seriously here.
In general, the laws are pretty strict about not releasing information. Student and health information is not supposed to be available to anyone except on a need-to-know basis, much less made available publicly. Our product had to have an elaborate system of permissions to prevent instructors from inappropriately viewing student data. Even something as apparently innocuous as posting a list of grades matched up against student names or IDs is forbidden.
The laws aren't for show, either. Everyone I interacted with in the course of that job, from bureaucrats down to individual instructors, took FOIPP very seriously. FOIPP compliance was a non-negotiable feature, and FOIPP violation bugs were always highest priority.
Typically, instructors become aware of student disabilities when they are asked to make special arrangements, such as arranging assistant note takers or special exams. Anyone who reveals that information is breaking educational and medical privacy, and would be in for a world of hurt.
I'm not aware if there are special exceptions for information released in the course of a lawsuit, but I'm not surprised that the university reacted severely. They take those laws seriously here.