As students, we pour hours, weeks, and sometimes years into crafting our assignments and research. Our intellectual property is priceless, reflecting our unique perspectives, hard work, and creativity. However, the University of Reading’s continued use of Turnitin threatens to undermine this principle. Turnitin has proposed altering its End User License Agreement (EULA) to include terms that could have significant implications on our rights as authors of our academic work. According to recent proposals, Turnitin will not only have global irrevocable rights to our submissions but will also gain permission to use this data to train its AI services. This is deeply concerning because it allows Turnitin to utilize our meticulously crafted assignments for purposes beyond plagiarism detection, essentially using our work to benefit their commercial ventures without our explicit consent.

We are in a situation where our academic rights and privacy are at stake. Students are entitled to control over their own creations, and it’s a fundamental breach of trust for Turnitin to exploit our work in such ways. It's not just an issue of intellectual property but also of consent and fair compensation. Turnitin wants YOUR work WITHOUT PERMISSION and for FREE to train their AI models.

This situation highlights a broader problem, the growing trend of data appropriation in academia. Students across the world face similar predicaments, where institutions sign up for efficient plagiarism checking at the cost of compromising student rights. This data frenzy capitalizes on the unique and niche data generated from students' work, effectively giving third-party companies an unfair advantage in AI development, without compensating those who create the content. It’s important to emphasize that this entire narrative is prevalent without giving us, the students, the option to opt-out or say no.

The University of Reading should immediately discontinue using Turnitin until there are guaranteed protections for student intellectual property. Instead, the university could explore alternative solutions that protect student interests while still preventing academic misconduct. Collaborating with student groups and seeking feedback on acceptable solutions can ensure that the integrity of academic processes is maintained without adding to students' anxieties over data misuse. It is crucial that academic institutions like the University of Reading prioritize student rights and privacy in their contractual agreements with third-party services.

Protect our intellectual property, our rights, and our futures. Sign this petition to urge the University of Reading to stop using Turnitin under its current terms, ensuring an academic environment that respects and values the contributions of its students.