I am partaking in some exams provided by German universities. Would it be okay if I were to discuss the questions after the exam online, e.g., by posting on the appropriate Stack Exchange? There were no rules written against it, but I heard datenschutz (data privacy law) is quite strict in Germany, hence my question.
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5This (Academia) would not be the forum for it in any case. And, the rules, if any, wouldn't be SE rules, but university rules. Ask them how widely you can discuss "old" questions.– BuffyCommented Jan 13 at 15:49
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1"There were no rules written against it" - this depends, if you intend to repost exams online, this could violate copyright (see e.g. bmbf.de/bmbf/shareddocs/kurzmeldungen/de/…)– coffee_into_plotsCommented Jan 13 at 16:05
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2Germany is a big place, and different universities might also have different policies. But you would probably need to ask whoever wrote the exam in question for permission, as with other course materials.– coffee_into_plotsCommented Jan 13 at 16:07
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10Note also that this has nothing to do with Datenschutz. Datenschutz best translates as data privacy and is about handling personal information about people. It doesn't say anything about university exam questions.– quaragueCommented Jan 13 at 17:42
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4When I was a student in Germany, the student organization in each department had a room full of folders in which students had deposited notes about memorializing exam questions after the exam was over. At the time (1993-1998), the system required a good number of oral exams, so there were no written exam questions to rely on, but people were diligent writing out what they had been asked, and it was fantastic to prep for your own exams. It was universally done, and I see no reason why this system can not also work if these questions are put on websites.– Wolfgang BangerthCommented Jan 14 at 19:31
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1 Answer
There are three reasons why it may not be okay:
Copyright: If you are copying the text of the question instead of just describing it, this would be a copyright violation. Same goes for posting photographs, screenshots of the question or sketches therein.
Special Rules: It could be that you agree not to share the contents of the exam by any means by enrolling or writing the exam. This should be easy to find out by checking all rules you agreed to. FWIW, we had such a rule for online exams during the pandemic, but only for three hours after the exam (this was to account for students receiving time extensions).
Even if not against any law or rule, the author may be angry anyway. My experience with the German academic system is that teachers expect all exams to be public knowledge amongst the students at their university as soon as they are written. I do not expect my students to request permission (even as a courtesy) to discuss an exam I posed, as long as they respect copyright and the exam is truly over. However, there are almost certainly some excentric professors out there who consider discussing their questions inappropriate, even if it breaks no law or rules.
but I heard datenschutz is quite strict in Germany, hence my question.
Datenschutz is the protection of personal data. It has no bearing on the tasks of an exam, as they are not personal data.
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1"It could be that you agree not to share the contents of the exam by any means by enrolling or writing the exam." It would be interesting whether such a rule (beyond the very harmless three hours example you mentioned) would have any chance to stand in court. This seems to intervene with the students' constitutional right to freely choose their profession. I wouldn't bet a dime on the university winning such a case. Another question is how such a rule could actually be enforced - what if a student simply breaks the rule after the exam? Commented Jan 13 at 18:45
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2@Anyon: AFAICT, excentric is just an excentric spelling of eccentric.– Wrzlprmft ♦Commented Jan 13 at 19:12
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2@JochenGlueck: This seems to intervene with the students' constitutional right to freely choose their profession. – I don’t think see how being “forced” to agree to a non-disclosure clause would qualify as a restriction of this freedom. Essentially any job that fundamentally is about working with humans (educator, nurse, therapist) will involve some sort of training with humans, which in turn will probably come with some non-disclosure agreement. Similar, you have to accept lab rules in many experimental fields.– Wrzlprmft ♦Commented Jan 13 at 19:38
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1@Wrzlprmft In the sense of "off-center", yes. The meaning of strange and unusual, when applied to a person, is only listed under 'eccentric' in the English dictionaries I've consulted. Of course, the etymology involves the prefix 'ex', and this is preserved in many other European languages.– AnyonCommented Jan 13 at 19:51