"It makes sense to ask if this is the opinion of a single researcher, or if the department and employer share the opinions."

1. No it doesn't make sense. He said:

"I'm Joel Reardon, a professor at the University of Calgary, who researches privacy in the mobile space." and not

"I'm Joel Reardon a security researcher" - so it's clear it's his professional opinion as a professor not a private opinion / or commercial opinion.

2. No university shares the opinions of it's professors, that's kind of the key of an university.